Tennis court brawl ends with drunk teen spitting in deputy’s face, Florida sheriff says

A Florida sheriff’s deputy took spit to the face when he interrupted a “drunken” Alabama teen screaming profanities at his own mother, according to investigators.

However, that’s not why the vacationing teenager ended up under arrest.

Minutes earlier, patrons of the Santa Rosa Beach tennis courts reported someone was randomly attacking players, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office reported in a March 26 news release. Santa Rosa Beach is about a 105-mile drive east from Pensacola in the Panhandle.

“Deputies arrived ... to tennis patrons physically holding down a 17-year-old after he attempted to fight those around him,” the sheriff’s office reported.

“The teenager ... came to Santa Rosa’s local tennis courts and began verbally harassing players and the interaction quickly escalated to physical violence. At one point the teen shoved a patron down to the ground on the court when he was asked to leave.”

That tennis player responded by pinning the teen down until deputies arrived, officials say.

“Deputies saw immediate signs and behaviors of intoxication and the 17-year-old was found with a 1.75 liter of vodka in his backpack,” officials said.

“While trying to put the teenager in custody, he proceeded to shout profanities at his mother and multiple deputies and then spit in a deputy’s face.”

The teen is charged with “battery on an officer, battery, obstruction without violence, and possession of alcohol by a person under 21 years of age,” the sheriff’s office said.

“He was transported to the Walton County Jail and then transferred to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Crestview,” officials said.

The teen was visiting Florida from his home in Mountain Brook, Alabama, a 240-mile drive north from Santa Rosa Beach, officials said.

This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Tennis court brawl ends with drunk teen spitting in deputy’s face, Florida sheriff says."