Two JSO officers suspended after bar fight

Two Jacksonville Sheriff’s officers were suspended for a fight with a woman outside a downtown bar back in November.

New evidence was released on Friday in the investigation.

Surveillance video from this November night in 2019 captured a fight outside the Volstead Bar in downtown Jacksonville.

It started with words exchanged, then it escalated into a physical altercation.

You can see a woman being beaten by two men and knocked to the ground. Action News Jax blurred the woman’s face to protect her identity.

The two men work with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office -- Detective Dennis Sullivan and his son officer Hunter Sullivan.

They were off duty at the time.

The scuffle sparked an internal investigation.

The woman told investigators she was leaving the bar with friends when the men kept making fun of them.

“I got up and walked towards him, I was like ‘Yo, just leave us alone,” she told investigators, a report says.

One of the officers involved says he was defending himself. “I feel like I’m about to be in danger of getting struck. I know she’s a female. I hate that she’s a female but she closed that gap and I did defend myself at that point.”

Detective Dennis Sullivan shared his side of what happened and apologized for his behavior.

I regret that it happened and I’m remorseful for this.

Dennis Sullivan was suspended 25 days and Hunter Sullivan got a 15-day suspension following the internal affairs investigations for “unbecoming conduct.”

The woman said she wanted the officers to be held accountable.

JSO officers suspended, accused of pushing girl JSO officers suspended, accused of pushing girl

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