WINDERMERE, Fla. — A mayor was attacked and knocked to the ground after getting into a shouting match at an out-of-control town hall meeting in Windermere, Fla., myFOXorlando.com reported Wednesday.
Windermere mayor Gary Bruhn adjourned the public meeting Tuesday night after he had an argument with the husband of the town manager.
The shouting was so fierce that police officers began evacuating the building in the affluent Orange County neighborhood about 12 miles west of Orlando — but before the room was cleared, someone punched or pushed Bruhn to the ground.
The mayor’s injuries were so severe that he was taken to a local hospital, which was then put on lockdown.
The incident came a day after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) released its findings into an investigation of the town’s police department.
The FDLE report showed that money, weapons and confiscated drugs were missing from the police department’s evidence and property locker. The FDLE also announced additional charges levied against police chief Daniel Saylor, who last year faced charges of hindering an investigation into sexual battery allegations against a friend.
The details of the fight that sent Bruhn to the hospital remained unclear Wednesday, but Bruhn had said during the meeting that town manager Cecelia Bernier should be fired because the FDLE report accused her of mismanagement and voiding traffic violations on behalf of friends.
“Our residents’ safety was compromised by tickets being voided, cases dropped and our reputation tarnished,” Bruhn said at the meeting.
For now, Bernier remains in her position because the mayor’s motion to remove her was not seconded.
Her husband was questioned by police Tuesday night, but no charges were laid.
It was not the first time that the sleepy town hit the headlines. The world’s attention previously turned to the wealthy community when Tiger Woods crashed his car outside his home there in 2009 after media reports of his infidelity.
For more on this story, please go to MyFoxOrlando.com.