Video captures scuffle between council member and volunteer at seafood festival

It’s not uncommon for two people on two sides of an argument to tell the police opposite stories, but it sometimes means someone’s not being truthful.

In the case of Bradenton City Councilman Bill Sanders’s account of what happened between him and a staff member at the Desoto Seafood Festival, video evidence disputes what he told the Bradenton Herald on Monday.

Sanders got into a drunken scuffle with a member of the festival staff on April 5, the opening night of the festivities, claiming he was acting in self defense when the staff member acted aggressively toward him.

Sanders said on Monday that he got physical with Desoto member Terry Wilson, who was in charge of the VIP area that night, only after Wilson poked him in the chest with his finger, hitting him in the face when he got “nose to nose with me.”

Video taken by surveillance cameras at Sutton Park spells out a different tale altogether and confirms what Wilson and other witnesses described that night, as well as information documented in a Palmetto Police Department incident report.

Video shows Wilson approaching Sanders in a non-aggressive manner, leaning in so he could speak into Sanders’ ear over the volume of the concert music. Sanders then reaches up with one arm and aggressively grabs Wilson by the shirt, pushing him backwards but not letting go.

Wilson’s hands are seen down by his side and he only raised one arm as to ask Sanders to leave. They both exit the camera’s view from there and police showed up a few minutes later around 9 p.m.

Wilson confirmed that was the moment he simply leaned in to let Sanders know he had to leave the VIP area. After the two walk off camera, Wilson said, “I didn’t really say anything to him at that point. He was mostly giving me crap. I did get heated when he lied to the police about me threatening him, but I just wanted him out of there at that point.”

Nothing shows Wilson as being the aggressor or laying hands on Sanders, as the witnesses reported to police and contrary to what Sanders told the police.

The entire incident started after Desoto staff said they saw Sanders letting people into the VIP area who were not properly credentialed. Sanders was asked to stop, at which time Wilson and others say Sanders began cussing and asking, “Do you know who I am?”

A police officer on the scene described Sanders as being “drunk and starting problems.”

No criminal charges connected to the incident have been filed.

Wilson said Monday that Sanders will no longer be an invited guest to any Desoto events.

Sanders did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.