Key West, FL - An Ohio police chief was arrested in Key West early Friday morning on a misdemeanor battery charge after he allegedly assaulted a homeless man.
According to police, 40-year-old Chad McArdle, the police chief of Boston Heights, Ohio, was arrested early Friday morning after Key West officers accused him of assaulting a homeless man in the vicinity of Duval Street.
Jail records show McArdle was booked into the Monroe County Jail shortly before 3 a.m. on a misdemeanor battery charge.
McArdle was taken into custody after a concerned taxi driver dialed 911 to report an agitated man banging on his door.
The man, identified as McArdle, claimed he'd been attacked and stabbed in the face and chest by unknown assailants who wanted to kill him.
Authorities with the Key West Police Department responded to the call and discovered McArdle lying on the sidewalk, visibly distressed and tearful.
McArdle told police two men had pushed him into a vehicle outside Durty Harry's bar and stabbed him with a stick.
McArdle claimed that he retaliated by stabbing one of the alleged attackers, possibly killing him.
Officers noticed that McArdle's injuries did not align with being stabbed and that he provided inconsistent details about the supposed attack and attackers, further raising suspicion.
Authorities reviewed surveillance footage reviewed that failed to corroborate McArdle's account, however, it did reveal the presence of a homeless man in the alleyway, who claimed that McArdle had assaulted him without any apparent reason.
The video captured McArdle kicking the victim in the back, and after he fell to the ground, continuing the assault.
Officers took McArdle into custody on a $2,500 bond. He is set to be arraigned in Monroe County court on August 17th.