PANAMA CITY BEACH — A local nightclub owner has said that while a young woman’s broad daylight sexual battery on Spring Break was tragic, he disputes whether cellphone video from the incident took place behind his business.
Since the video surfaced at the beginning of April, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office has arrested two college students on charges of sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, and they are pursuing the arrests of two other men. In the video, several men can be seen surrounding an incapacitated woman, lying on a blue mat of a wooden beach rental chair. She feebly tries to push their hands away from her crotch as the men digitally penetrate her and hundreds of bystanders either do not notice or ignore the incident.
BCSO, after speaking with the 20-year-old victim, reported she could have been drugged and did not remember much from the incident other than it happened behind Spinnaker Beach Club, 8795 Thomas Drive, some time between March 10 and 12.
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Officials at the club did not immediately comment on the incident, having not seen the video. However, Sparky Sparkman, owner of Spinnaker, said Monday it seemed “implausible” the incident could have occurred during that time on the club’s property. He said though he still has not seen the entire video, details from what he has seen do not corroborate what BCSO has released.
“The video I have seen was not taken on Spinnaker beach,” Sparkman said. “We have no blue lounge chairs or blue umbrellas on our beach.”
Sparkman also said several vendors and promoters covered the area behind Spinnaker on the dates approaching the Luke Bryan concert on March 11 and 12, which would have dramatically changed the landscape depicted in the video, he said.
BCSO officials said the victim and both suspects have stated the incident occurred behind Spinnaker.
“Short of a GPS reading, that is what the incident location is based on,” BSO Maj. Tommy Ford said.
BCSO deputies reported the beach chairs regularly change positions. Ford added that the victim has since said the incident happened March 8.
Despite the conflicting stories, Sparkman responded the video was “tragic wherever it happened.” He said the suspects “should be prosecuted to the fullest,” and that the Beach has to get things under control. Events like this “further taints our destination site,” Sparkman added.
“None of us like what has and is happening on our beaches involving irresponsible and atrocious activity during this time frame,” he said.
Beach bar and restaurant properties — and their responsibilities — in general, extend to the “mean high-water mark” along the beach, according to the Property Appraiser’s Office. The amount of land can vary, but Sparkman said because of intensified scrutiny during Spring Break from potential litigators, he and his staff apply intensified scrutiny to what happens on his property.
A group sexual battery could be exactly what litigators would be waiting for, Sparkman said.
The cellphone video came to authorities’ attention following an April 2 shooting at a Waffle House in Troy, Alabama. The video was found on a witness’ cellphone, but he was not the person who shot the video, officials said.
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Delonte’ Martistee, a 22-year-old senior from Bainbridge, Ga., and Ryan Calhoun, a 23-year-old sophomore from Mobile, Ala., were arrested in Alabama on Thursday in connection with the incident.
On the day of the two Troy University students’ arrests, dozens of people coincidentally piled into a Panama City Beach City Council meeting wearing white shirts demanding officials to “save our jobs.” McKeithen responded the day after with an announcement of the sexual battery arrests and fumed.
“I am sick and tired of it and we can wear T-shirts that say ‘save our beaches’ all we want to, but that is not going to restore this girl who was viciously violated by these individuals last month on our beaches,” McKeithen said during the Friday press conference. “I am sick of it, and there are no excuses for this. If you condone this, you should be in jail right along with them as far as I am concerned.”