TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- A Tampa attorney is weighing in after a video of a Florida charter captain and a young fisherman getting into a heated argument under the Barron Collier Bridge went viral.
The video showcases an argument before the charter captain climbs aboard the fisherman's boat. Eventually, the charter captain climbed back onto his own boat as the fisherman continued to apologize.
The video has prompted an investigation by the Punta Gorda Police Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
With several investigations surrounding the incident, at what point did the charter captain potentially cross the line of the law?
News Channel 8 went to Tampa Attorney Bryant Camareno, who is unaffiliated with this case, to find out.
"At best, maybe misdemeanor assault," he said. "Under the statue, misdemeanor assault is when you threaten somebody and have the apparent ability to carry out that threat."
"It wouldn't be a felony assault, more like a misdemeanor assault," Camareno continued. "That would be my guess, if anything at all, but nothing more than that."
News Channel 8 reporter Nicole Rogers asked, "Where do you think he crossed the line into a potential charge?"
"When he got on board," Camareno responded. "When he trespassed."
"They may even get him for trespassing now that I mentioned that," he continued. "When he got on board the boat and inadvertently assaulted him, I think that's where he crossed the line."
"The minute he set foot on that private property, that boat, that's when he crossed the line," Camareno clarified.
The viral video sparked debate over whether the fisherman would have had the right to stand his ground.
Camareno doesn't think that would play well in court.
"I don't think that actions of him jumping on the boat would've justified deadly force," he explained. "If he would've punched the gentleman or pushed him off the boat, then that would've been justified."
"If he had used deadly force, meaning the kid had used deadly force, I don't know if a jury would look at these facts and say that man deserved to be shot," Camareno concluded.
