(WSVN) - An overnight rampage at a South Florida club in 2016 left the owner shot and shaken. It has taken him more than six years to even speak about the bloody battle inside. Now — for the first time — he is sharing his survival story with 7 Investigates’ Karen Hensel.
911 dispatcher: “Where is he shot, sir?”
Caller: “He was shot in the head. He was shot in the face.”
Sept. 17, 2016, a panicked call to 911 just before 3 a.m.
Caller: “We don’t know if they’re still there. We got it barricaded. Please, get someone here. He needs help.”
In a botched robbery attempt, the owner of the Castle Bar in Hollywood had just been shot after three men stormed the door.
Caller: “He’s alert, but he’s going down fast.”
Crime scene photos show the bloody scene inside and at least a dozen shell casings.
Dean Gramenidis was the owner of the bar.
Dean Gramenidis: “The doctors thought I was going to end up dying. I still have one bullet that’s not registered here, and it started right here, and it’s right here still in my butt, and I sit on it every day, and it reminds me.”
Dean was shot three times — in the groin, stomach and grazed in the head.
Six and a half years later, after complications from surgery, he has learned to walk again but still relies on a motorized scooter.
This is the first time he is seeing the police photos.
Dean Gramenidis: “Memory lane, yeah.”
The three men had forced a woman Dean knew to call him after the club had closed for the night.
She asked him to open the door.
Dean Gramenidis: “I get a phone call, ‘Dean, I’m outside. Can you open the door?’ And I see a shotgun sticking through the door. He was able to get a shot off, and he hit me here, and that’s when I grabbed the rifle, and I waxed him, and I put him out through the door.”
But there were two other men, and they came in shooting.
Dean Gramenidis: “He tried to re-load his clip, and that’s when I went totally berserk.”
Dean fought back with bar stools.
Dean Gramenidis: “So you pick that thing up, you can swing it like a freakin’ baseball bat.”
In a 2016 police interview obtained by 7 Investigates, Dean explained how his love of playing baseball helped him identify the armed robbers.
Dean Gramenidis in police interview: “I was a catcher in baseball. I always look at the [expletive] face. No, I’m serious, when they come to bat, I always look at people.”
Detective: “So, you’re saying your experience in baseball…”
Dean Gramenidis: “Yeah, eye contact. Yeah, catchers are very attentive, and I’m very analytical.”
One month after the shooting, all three were arrested.
Detective in police interview: “There’s an arrest warrant for you.”
Termaine Griffin: “Arrest warrant?”
Detective: “Yeah.”
Griffin: “For what?”
Detective: “For attempted armed robbery and attempted murder.”
Terrance McDougle: “I swear to God, man. I ain’t did no dumb-ass [expletive] like that, man.”
Terrance McDougle, Termaine Griffin and Palacio Farley were convicted of attempted first-degree murder and armed burglary.
Dean Gramenidis: “There’s a time in life you gotta draw the line and just move on, but….”
Karen Hensel: “Are you finally able to move on?”
Dean Gramenidis: “Yeah.”
The Castle Bar in Hollywood is gone, but what happened here changed Dean Gramenidis forever. Once a social nightclub owner, he went into hiding. Finally talking about that night is part of moving forward.
Dean Gramenidis: “I kind of just wanted to lay low. I went from being Mr. Popular to Dean the Greek going solo. This way I can find myself, find peace within myself.”
Karen Hensel: “Are you angry?”
Dean Gramenidis: “Well, I look at it this way: I’m still here, and that’s positive.”
After life threw Dean a curveball, he remains grateful and hopeful.
Dean Gramenidis: “Sometime or other, I would like to be back out here playing. The only thing holding me back is I can’t run.”
At least not yet.
Karen Hensel, 7News.
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