Surveillance footage shows assault outside Put-in-Bay bar

PUT-IN-BAY – Newly discovered video footage of an attack outside the Frosty Bar could hold the key to solving the case.

At 12:11 a.m. Friday, the Put-in-Bay Police Department received a call. An Ottawa County sheriff’s deputy found an unconscious man in what is commonly known as Commodore Alley, between Catawba and Loraine Avenues, near the back of the bar.

The report of the call states that Put-in-Bay officers found a man lying on the ground. He told officers he was a musician and had performed at Frosty’s. He did not know what happened after he left. The man was taken by medical helicopter to a hospital in Toledo because he was bleeding from his head.

Later that day, the victim returned to the Put-in-Bay police station to file a report.

Police Officer David Fenstermaker said the case remains under investigation, confirming reports on social media that the victim suffered a concussion, a broken vertebra and may have needed minor surgery for the gash on his head.

Police looking for suspect

“I may have a possible suspect. I’m trying to track him down. I just don’t have a name yet,” Fenstermaker said. “I’m hoping someone comes forward because we don’t have a name yet.”

Police have requested CCTV footage. Fenstermaker said one camera in the area has been out of order since 2023.

“Somewhere between that back patio (at Frosty’s) and the Commodore, he was attacked,” Fenstermaker said. “It would help if everybody here had cameras. We tell them every year to get good cameras because it would help them.”

The police have a brief description of the event and the suspect who may have committed the attack.

According to Fenstermaker, a verbal altercation took place in the bar between several people. He claimed that the victim had touched a woman inappropriately.

Description of the man the police are looking for

The suspect is described as an older man, somewhere between 40 and 60, approximately 6 feet tall and stocky, with short spiky hair, and possibly a tattoo on his right upper arm. He was wearing green-gray shorts, sandals, and a black short-sleeved shirt with a red American flag on the right sleeve and a snake logo with the text “Don’t tread on me” on the back. The man may have been accompanied by several younger women.

According to Fenstermaker, the man paid in cash, but he may have used a credit card on other occasions.

Put-in-Bay police are asking the public for information regarding the identities of the individuals involved in the attack.

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This article originally appeared in the Port Clinton News Herald: Investigation into Put-in-Bay attack aided by surveillance footage