It's the St. Pete beach brawl video that went viral.
Pinellas County Sgt. Bryan Bingham, 6-foot-6, single-handedly took down two violent men with extensive criminal records. The sheriff himself put it in perspective.
"This is a couple of thugs who thought they were gonna fight after drinking, and then picked a fight with a deputy sheriff," said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.
Bingham says when he arrived, 25-year-old Josh McMahan punched him, then spit in his face. That's battery.
"Sgt. Bingham used appropriate techniques to try and take him into custody," said Gualtieri.
When 25-year-old Justin Lewis jumped in, Bingham knew protecting the public was priority one.
"My main focus was to maintain control of the crowd, to make sure no one got out of control, no one was hostile and didn't escalate to the next level," said Bingham.
Bingham has been hailed a hero, but questions were raised about the how long it took for back up to arrive. The sheriff says the only access is the alley just north of the Post Card Inn.
"You really cant get two cars going both ways down there and it takes forever, especially when it's a busy weekend down there," said Gualtieri
Despite public concerns, the sheriff says there is no issue with response time, nor a shortage of personnel.
"We're going to address it. We're adequately prepared for spring break," said Gualtieri.
