VERO BEACH — Police responded to Kelley’s Irish Pub in Vero Beach to escort a patron out of the bar at a bartender’s request last Thursday around 9:50 p.m. The situation escalated when the patron acted out by throwing a table at one officer and grabbing at a gun of another.
Dwight David Cundiff, 50, of the 800 block of 27th Ave. in Vero Beach, refused the first officer’s request to leave and failed to cooperate when the officer asked him to remove his hands from his pockets, according to the arrest report.
The officer gained control over Cundiff and arrested him, but Cundiff was able to get away as the arresting officer called for backup, according to the arrest affidavit.
Cundiff threw a table at the arresting officer, striking the officer in the left leg. With the help of other patrons, the officer was able to bring Cundiff back to the ground before back up arrived, the report states.
As authorities worked to control the defendant, Cundiff grabbed a second officer’s firearm and was “attempting to lift the firearm out of its holster,” according to the official report.
Authorities deployed a Taser three times to Cundiff’s back in an attempt to get him to comply, but he did not, the report states. After the third Taser deployment, officers were able to secure Cundiff.
He was transported to the Indian River Medical Center after becoming unconscious.
Cundiff is being held in lieu of $15,000 bond and faces felony charges including unlawful attempt at taking of a law enforcement officer’s firearm, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest with violence. He also faces misdemeanor charges including trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.
