An agency plagued by allegations of bad behavior is looking into a fight involving four corrections officers and a former inmate.
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published November 16, 2005
TALLAHASSEE - In the latest incident involving prison employees, four corrections officers and a former inmate face misdemeanor charges after a brawl at a bar near the sprawling prison complex in Starke this past weekend.
Police said one brawling officer and the ex-inmate had to be subdued by a Taser device. All five were charged with offenses ranging from disorderly conduct to resisting arrest without violence.
In recent months, 11 prison employees have been charged with crimes ranging from felony battery to embezzlement to distribution of steroids, and the agency is the focus of an investigation by state and federal law enforcement agents.
The weekend fracas was the second time in the past month that a prison employee was arrested in a fight at George's Bar on State Road 16, west of Starke. George's is a popular hangout for corrections officers who work at one of three nearby prisons in the area known as the Iron Triangle.
"This is a very convenient place for them to go have a drink," said Bradford County sheriff's Lt. W.W. "Bear" Bryan. "Occasionally, we have problems."
The latest trouble started early Saturday morning. The Friday night crowd was so big it caught the attention of two Bradford County sheriff's deputies on patrol.
Sgt. Ray White and Deputy Joseph Jones said that as they got to the front door of George's, a woman warned them there was going to be a fight. Minutes later, fists were flying and the combatants refused orders to stop, a police report said.
In the middle of the melee were four officers and Robert Craven, 37, of Starke, who was released from New River Correctional Institution in 1999 after serving nearly two years for carrying a concealed firearm and trafficking in stolen property.
The officers charged were Kevin Barfield, 37, of Middleburg; Robert Bonsall, 37, of Lawtey; Joey Hill, 31, of Brooker; and Edwin Lee Johnson, 29, of Raiford. All work at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Bryan said he did not know how the fight started.
Barfield and Craven were charged with affray, or fighting with another in public, and resisting arrest without violence. Bonsall was charged with affray. Hill was charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing; Johnson, with resisting arrest without violence and trespassing.
Corrections Secretary James Crosby declined to comment on the arrests. Spokesman Robby Cunningham said the agency was still reviewing circumstances of the fight before deciding whether disciplinary action is warranted.
Prison personnel policies say fighting by corrections employees "while on duty, will not be tolerated." The officers charged were off-duty at the time.
Times researchers Carolyn Edds and Deirdre Morrow contributed to this report. Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or 850 224-7263.
