By David Unze
St. Cloud Times
St. Cloud, Minn. — A St. Cloud-area man has been charged with two counts of fifth-degree assault after punching two people outside the Ultimate Sports Bar & Grill, one of them an off-duty Waite Park police officer.
The incident was recorded on a smartphone video camera by a restaurant customer.
Bob Hester Jr., 20, has been charged via ticket with punching the two men after he was kicked out of the bar the evening of July 9. Police filed the ticket late Wednesday against Hester at the Stearns County Courthouse.
The video from the restaurant patron shows Hester arguing with bar owner Tom Frericks as off-duty police officer Jerry Gangle stands nearby. Another bar employee is seen making a call on a cellphone as Hester tries to climb the railing around the patio to get at him. A woman tries to restrain Hester, who throws a punch at the man on the phone, grazing him in the head.
The woman is able to get Hester off the railing and into the parking, away from the restaurant. But Hester takes off his shirt and immediately walks back to the railing around the outside patio area of the bar. He steps up onto the edge of the railing and is face-to-face with Gangle.
The video then shows Hester punching Gangle once in the face. Gangle, and the others on the bar patio, refrain from using any force against Hester, who eventually is escorted away by two acquaintances.
Copyright 2015 the St. Cloud Times