Seminole County police decided not to arrest WOFL reporter Patrick Pegues after he scuffled with a deputy, as well as a group of private security guards, on Tuesday while covering a deadly shooting outside of Orlando.
A video posted to YouTube (inside) shows Pegues throwing the deputy to the ground after the officer had stepped in to stop a confrontation between Pegues and security guards, who had ordered the reporter to change the location of his live stand-up shot.
A police spokesperson told the Orlando Sentinel that the deputy had stepped in to “de-escalate the situation” and after Pegues had been restrained, the officer decided against arresting him.
Pegues, who was arrested in 2007 after he ignored a police officer’s attempts to confine him within a designated media area while covering a car accident, had been reporting live all morning from outside a strip mall where a suspect was shot in a botched robbery.
Here’s video of the confrontation: