Call
us crazy. But if two people saw Banana Republican approach someone,
sucker punch him or her, and then pin our victim to the ground,
chances are we'd be taking a ride down to Miami-Dade County jail. In
fact, any Joe Schmo would have been arrested for assault or battery.
But Marc Sarnoff is no regular citizen. He is a Miami city
commissioner who has apparently gotten away with beating up his
former pal and current nemesis, Reid Welch.
Despite Welch's weird addiction of huffing propane and his eccentric behavior, his claim that Sarnoff assaulted him this past Oct. 29 are supported by two witnesses, according to previously unreleased police documents that Welch's attorney Jason Wandner showed the commissioner during a court hearing yesterday.
Sarnoff is seeking a permanent restraining order against Welch, whom the commissioner claims made a death threat against him. Sarnoff has not returned two phone calls seeking comment. We're waiting on a response from a Miami Police spokesperson.
The tempest began during the final weeks of Sarnoff's reelection campaign. Welch was riding his bicycle through the Grove's residential streets removing the commissioner's campaign signs. He videotaped himself taking down the signage and alleged he did so because the placards had been placed illegally on the public right of way. On Oct. 29, Sarnoff claims he caught Welch spray painting one of his signs and threatening a neighbor across the street from his house. The commissioner added that his antagonist was holding a box cutter.
However, a young couple who were walking their dogs told Miami police investigator Gregory Jack that Sarnoff bum rushed Welch. Alexander Maruri, 24, said he and his girlfriend saw Sarnoff run across the street to strike Welch from behind. Welch didn't see the punch coming, Maruri added. His girlfriend, 22-year-old Megan Deehan, said Sarnoff pinned Welch to the ground after punching him.
