Police: Tampa security guards stopped armed man outside strip club

“I was fighting for my life,” said Rest.

Over the next 25 seconds, Resto and fellow guards disarmed the man and tackled him to the ground before police arrived.Lee Barcoe The Tampa Police Interim Chief believes security guards prevented the massacre at the Mons Venus Club.

“I have no doubt many lives would have been lost had they not intervened,” Bercow said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Police identified the masked man as 44-year-old Michael Rudman and charged him with aggravated assault with a lethal weapon, aggravated battery with a lethal weapon, a battery, and possession of a firearm under a risk protection order. Bercaw said Rudman could face more charges while he remains in prison.

Hillsborough County public defender Julian Holt declined to comment when contacted by The Washington Post.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Rest explained his experience. At around 1:10 am on Sunday, the suspect Resto said he drove a silver Toyota pickup truck into the Mons Venus parking lot, blocking other cars. Police say the man stepped out of the truck wearing a red-and-black devil mask and had “Kill” and “The Dark Ones” written on his arm.

Rest, 54, said he smiled when the masked man approached him with a flashlight in his left hand, believing he was still playing a prank. However, police say the man pointed a 9mm handgun inside as he opened the door. Rest moved into action.

“I wasn’t going to let him win,” said Resto, whose wrestling nickname was “The Puerto Rican Punisher.” “He didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

About 200 people were inside, Bercaw said. An employee who saw what was going on got on a loudspeaker and demanded more security outside.

Resto said the man hit him in the head with a gun and nearly knocked him unconscious. Police said the suspect fired a gun and banged on the door. Surveillance footage shows Resto eventually smashed the pistol and pointed it at the man. Resto said he ordered him to freeze, but the suspect charged him.

Two more guards arrived just in time and knocked the man out. under. Danny Baham placed his hands behind the man’s neck and placed his knees on his back as the suspect struggled to the ground, and Resto compared him to the professional wrestler Undertaker. , The killer from the Halloween movie series, Michael Myers.

“I kept the gun because I didn’t want anyone else to have it,” Rest said. “It was my responsibility. I started this.

When the police arrived they said They found Radman carrying three magazines. Holds 17 rounds. Bercaw said police also found nine of his knives and two gun holsters in Rudman’s car.

Police said Rudman had visited a strip club the night before, but his motives for Sunday remain unclear.

According to police, Radman was ordered by a court in October to surrender his firearms and ammunition under a legal mechanism known as a risk protection order. The measure, which allows law enforcement agencies to petition judges to restrict access to guns if someone is deemed to pose a danger to themselves or others, follows the Parkland massacre. , passed by Florida legislators in 2018.

When Bercaw learned about Sunday’s incident, the police chief said he thought about another high-profile shooting in Florida: the 2016 mass murder at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub.

“Could they have prevented something like that?” Bercaw asked about Resto and his colleagues. “I definitely think so. I’m grateful they stood up. That’s the local police. We’re all here.”

Resto said he and his fellow security guards were just doing their job.

“We have to work together to stop people like this,” Resto said. “And they have no intention of stopping our lives.”