Police arrested a local Florida political candidate Sunday after video captured him allegedly putting a teen in a chokehold.
Russian-American attorney George Bardmesser, who is running for the Sunny Isles Beach commissioner position, is being accused of choking a teen and slapping another inside a local Cuban restaurant, according to Local 10 News.
Security cam footage obtained by Local 10 shows the incident unfolding. Bardmesser, dressed in a shirt promoting his political campaign, appears to walk over to a group of teens seated at the restaurant. The 59-year-old then goes toward the corner of the table and appears to place his arms around a teen’s neck.
The restaurant-goers can be seen springing to action as a fellow teen appears to grab onto the candidate, pulling him back. Bardmesser can be seen pushing the teen back. He then turns around, allegedly striking the teen in the face.
Two men then intervene, pushing Bardmesser away from the teens as a woman keeps the kids back. (RELATED: GOP Lawmaker Neil Friske Arrested After Allegedly Chasing Stripper While Firing Gun).
Local10 also shared a video recorded by a witness, in which a woman can be heard yelling, “You hit a child!” Bardmesser appears to shrug his shoulders at her remark.
The teens were apparently part of a political opposition group that challenges Bardmesser, Local10 reported, citing a police report.
“There was a couple of kids sitting, and I don’t know whether they were instigating, said something, generated this gentleman to get up. He put a chokehold on one of the kids and slapped another one,” the restaurant’s owner, Pedro Vera, told Local10. “He got out of hand. He lost control. It should have never happened.”
Bardmesser was at the local restaurant for a “Republican coffee meet-up,” he had announced Thursday on his Facebook.
The political candidate was charged with two counts of child abuse and is being held on a $5,000 bond, according to Miami-Dade inmate records.
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