Fire Official Demoted After Strip Club Scuffle
Published: Feb 17, 2004
FORT LAUDERDALE - A fire- rescue battalion chief is being demoted several ranks for a scuffle with a strip club bouncer.
James Heller, 46, parked his city-owned car in a valet spot at Pure Platinum strip club Oct. 2 and got into an altercation with the bouncer when he was refused entry, according to city records.
Heller said he was trying to go to an adjoining steakhouse, but surveillance video captured Heller trying to go through the main entrance to the strip club. He also denied witnesses' accounts that he was drinking in his car and appeared intoxicated.
Fort Lauderdale City Manager Alan Silva had refused to accept Fire Chief Otis Latin's earlier recommendation that Heller receive only a five-day suspension and have his city vehicle taken away, asking the city's Office of Professional Standards to conduct an independent investigation.
OPS Director Stephen Scott said Heller's exemplary 16- year record with the department did not diminish the seriousness of the allegations.
``As a chief, James Heller should be held to an even higher standard,'' Scott said in a memo Jan. 26. ``His conduct at Pure Platinum ... sets the worst possible example for the department.''
The bouncer, 38-year-old Michael Nunn, declined to press battery charges.
I think he was going in there to perform a rescue!
