Mike Wirll arrested
LEE COUNTY: A well-known local musician was attacked by two minor league
hockey players at a popular waterfront bar. The musician spoke only to NBC2
about the brawl.
The two players under arrest for the violent attack play for the Pensacola
Ice Pilots - a team in town to take on the Everblades Friday night. It's
unclear if they'll be benched, but the musician says he's out of commission for
weeks after the beating.
Guitar player Dave Collaton says he never saw it coming. He was ending a set
when he was jumped by the two men and now he says he's so badly hurt, he has
to cancel upcoming performances.
Collaton says Travis Lisabeth, of the Ice Pilots, is the one who "cold
cocked" him. Thursday night, deputies arrested him at the Cottage Bar on Fort
Myers Beach. He's accused of starting a beachside brawl that begins with
Collaton's guitar.
"There's this guy in the picture taking my guitar and walking out of the bar
with it," said Collaton.
But Collaton says he grabbed his guitar back from Lisabeth, but it did not
happen peacefully.
"I turn around then I got hit," said Collaton.
Now, Lisabeth is facing a battery charge. But Collaton says he wasn't ready
for what happened next.
"I was about to put it back on the bar and all hell broke loose. The place
just went nuts," said Collaton.
According to sheriff's reports, the bar fight also involved Michael Wirll of
the Ice Pilots. He is considered one of the top players in the East Coast
Hockey League. He was also arrested.
"They were really aggressive and crazy looking," said Collaton.
Collaton says he was in the middle of the melee - but it just got worse.
"I got dragged down the stairs in this big tangle of what I know was hockey
players," said Collaton.
Collaton says he suffered a broken shoulder, a broken rib, and bruises on
his jaw and forehead.
"The next thing I know, I was waking up getting up off the pavement. I hit
the concrete with my forehead," said Collaton. "They get paid to go out there
and kick ass on skates. I'm guessing in sneakers, they're probably twice as
lethal."
Greg Schuh, President of the Ice Pilots, says Lisabeth and Wirll will be
disciplined when they return Sunday but chose not to elaborate on what that
might mean.
Over the phone Schuh said, "As an organization, I apologize to the Fort
Myers community that this incident ever happened. We don't accept this kind of
conduct by our players. It's an unfortunate situation and I'm sure the players
are apologetic."
Collaton's wife Jennifer says she can't believe hockey players did that to
her husband.
"Nothing has ever happened like this where he's wound up in the hospital
with broken bones," said Jennifer.
Both hockey players bonded out of jail Friday afternoon. Schuh explained the
team's coach will decide whether to bench the players for Friday night's
game against the Everblades.
As for Collaton, he says he won't be playing guitar for at least six weeks.
# 8-9-11-22 ALWAYS REMEMBERED
Reply With Quote