FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Newly surfaced surveillance video captured a brawl that broke out at a Fort Lauderdale Beach hotel between an employee and a guest that led to the employee’s arrest.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump posted the video on Twitter over the weekend showing the fight at the Best Western Plus along A1A, off Seabreeze Boulevard and just north of Southeast 17th Street, Jan. 19.
The incident is now coming to light due to the video tweeted out by Crump.
Fort Lauderdale Police said the hotel employee, Raymond Rachal, was working behind the hotel’s counter just after 1 a.m. when the guest, 37-year-old Jason Rabe, approached him.
Investigators said Rabe had been told earlier in the evening not to return to the property.
The footage shows Rabe walking behind the counter and appearing to charge at Rachal, who punched him in the face. The two men then began fighting.
Moments later, another man walked in and tried to break up the fight. The man then called 911.
In his tweet, Crump said Rachal “tried to exercise his right to cancel a white hotel guest’s stay for spewing racial slurs at him.”
In the 911 call, Rachal is heard asking for help.
“He’s assaulted me. Ran straight towards me. I had to defend myself!” Rachal is heard saying in audio of the call.
The footage shows Fort Lauderdale Police officers arriving to the hotel. An officer is seen pushing Rachal.
Police said Rachal failed to comply when instructed to back up, according to the arrest report.
Moments later, several officers are seen standing over Rachal, who is lying on the floor next to the counter.
“You want to get sprayed or what?” an officer is heard telling Rachal.
The video shows Rachal being led away in handcuffs shortly after.
According to his website, Rabe is a race car driver from New York.
When a 7News reporter called Rabe to ask him about the incident, he hung up.
In the the police report, the arresting officer states, “During my investigation, Jason (who was still intoxicated) could not recall the exact events of the incident.”
The report goes on to state, “Unable to determine a primary aggressor … I charged Raymond with resisting (an) officer with violence and disorderly conduct.”
Rabe was charged with trespassing and given a notice to appear.
“It’s all on camera, brother. We’re all good,” Rabe said in the video.
Still, it was Rachal who, according to the police report, was put “in the back of [the arresting officer’s] patrol car.”
The police report states Rabe “was given a courtesy ride from the scene to a friend’s house, where he decided to stay as he had no money for a different hotel.”
The State Attorney’s Office dropped both of Rachal’s charges about a month after the incident.
It remains unclear if Crump is representing Rachal.
Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for Fort Lauderdale Police issued a statement that reads, “The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is aware of a video circulating social media relating to an arrest made in January. The incident occurred on January 19, 2022 at 1180 Seabreeze Boulevard. Fort Lauderdale’s Office of Internal Affairs is conducting a review of this incident.”
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