PANAMA CITY BEACH ― Four family members, including a Bay District Schools teacher, are facing charges after a fight at The Old Beach Bar on June 10.
The incident happened about midnight at 19952 Front Beach Road, Panama City Beach.
The bar often hosts matches for the American Pool Players Association.
According to an arrest affidavit, witnesses told deputies that Bay District Schools teacher Summer Chester, 40, along with family members Calvin Chester, 39, Gavin Chester, 19, and Homer Chester, 42, arrived at the bar and created a disturbance, interrupting pool matches and breaking a player’s personal pool cue.
According to an incident report from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, an employee of the bar, Stephen Weaver, 32, discovered Calvin Chester, 39, bothering individuals while playing pool and asked him to leave leave multiple times, but he refused to do so.
When Weaver stepped outside to call 911, Calvin and Gavin Chester began chasing and hitting Weaver with closed fists, according to the report. Weaver suffered a chipped tooth from the incident.
Deputies said Summer Chester, 40, a teacher at Surfside Middle School, knocked Brenda Woods, 69, to the ground on her back and began striking her repeatedly with a closed fist. The affidavit said the incident was caught on video.
The incident gave Woods a black eye on the right side of her face that had swollen nearly to the size of a golf ball, the affidavit says. She was taken to the hospital.
The Sheriff’s Office said video footage showed Timothy Brackeen, 70, trying to help Woods when Gavin Chester began punching Brackeen, giving him several bruises to his face, eye and rib cage. Gavin and Calvin Chester were both seen on video striking victim Maria Arnold, 44, multiple times in the face, according to the report.
“Brackeen stated the family was surrounding Weaver, while Weaver was trying to get them to leave the property,” the incident report says. “Brackeen stated he saw Woods fall from being struck by someone. Brackeen stated ‘the kid was like a raving maniac,’ identified as Gavin. Brackeen said people were pulling Gavin off of someone else, but Gavin would keep going right back and re-engaging in the fight.”
One victim, James Bain, 40, said he was there to play pool. While the fight began to escalate, Bain was attempting to break up the fight when Homer Chester began hitting the Bain multiple times until the he fell to the floor, according to the affidavit. Bain was taken to the hospital.
According to the incident report:
Homer Chester is defending himself in court. Summer and Gavin Chester are being represented by Gunter & McClaran Law, a Panama City-based firm. Their first arrangements are scheduled for Aug. 4.
“As this is an active investigation, we are unable to provide additional details at this time. However, we want to assure our community that the safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priorities. We take all allegations involving employees seriously, regardless of when or where they occur,” Bay District Schools said in a statement.
“We have full confidence in our local law enforcement agencies and the judicial process to handle this matter appropriately. We appreciate the continued support of our families and community as we remain committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and positive learning environment for all students,” the statement adds.
The school district did not comment on Summer Chester’s employment status.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Four family members, including Bay schoolteacher, charged in Old Beach Bar fight
Reporting by DeonTay Smith, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
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