While working as a Knight’s Pub Bouncer, Frisner Nelson, 32, was arrested after placing a patron in a choke hold and punching another patron in the face and fracturing his skull and eye socket, according to the sheriff’s incident report.
The incident occurred Sunday morning at around 12:25 a.m. when two off-duty deputies say they saw Nelson and Trevor Niccum in a “heated verbal exchange.” According to the report, Nelson ripped Niccum’s wristband off and shoved him in the chest, to which Niccum reciprocated the shove.
“Nelson responded by grabbing Niccum and placing him in a full rear chokehold. Nelson held Niccum in the chokehold until he was rendered unconscious and then let him go,” the report states.
Two of Niccum’s friends, James Romano and Jansen Honeycutt, then “engaged Nelson in a verbal shouting match at which time Nelson moved towards them in an aggressive manner.”
The security manager got involved and attempted to separate the three. The shouting continued, and Honeycutt was knocked to the ground by a slap thrown by Nelson, the report said. Nelson then stood over Honeycutt and said “call me a (racial slur) again” and slapped him a second time, according to the report.
After this occurred, deputies said Romano was shouting at Nelson but did not make an attempt to strike or attack him. The deputy stated in the report that he then observed Nelson, who “without physical provocation, charged at Romano and [threw] a left handed punch. Nelson’s punch struck Romano on the left side of his face, knocking him off his feet,” the report stated.
“When Romano fell to the ground, he struck the back of his head on the ground and began bleeding immediately,” the report said. He also was “semi-conscious and foaming from the mouth.”
The report said that once Romano was on the ground, Niccum and Nelson continued their verbal shouting match, including racial slurs. Nelson then struck Niccum and knocked him down, according to the report.
Romano was transported to a local hospital and Niccum was treated and released at the scene.
Romano, Niccum and Nelson all initially told deputies they didn’t want to prosecute, according to the report. However, the report stated that Romano is now in the hospital in critical condition causing Nelson to face criminal charges even though Romano did not want to prosecute.
Nelson was arrested for felony battery, court records show.
The report also states that Niccum freely admitted that he mouthed off to Nelson to “get a reaction out of him.”
Later on deputies saw Nelson shouting near the cash register at the Knight’s Pub’s manager Mike D’Esposito who had just informed him that he was “fired for his actions,” according to the report. Deputies said pub security manager Greg Curry had to keep Nelson away from the manager who fired him. D’Esposito then told Nelson to leave the property and to never return, according to the report.
Nelson played for the UCF football team’s defensive line while attending in the early 2000’s.
KnightNews.com tried calling The Knight’s Pub to give them a chance to comment. However, the number on their website is not in service.
We have emailed The Knight’s Pub and are awaiting a response.
Check back on KnightNews.com for updates on this story.
