RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Security footage, which WPTV obtained from a public records request to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, shows a fight between Riviera Beach Council members Tradrick McCoy and Douglas Lawson.
The two started fighting after a disagreement over discussing the city's water contamination at a City Council meeting on Jan. 24. Lawson cut off McCoy from speaking about a seven-month delay to notify people about fecal bacteria and E. coli in city water because a quorum wasn't held.
WATCH: Surveillance Video of Fight
The new video shows the two council members face-to-face. An incident report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said McCoy made contact with Lawson's face with his pointer finger extended.
Surveillance video shows Lawson putting his materials on a nearby table, then pushing Mayor Ronnie Felder and a security guard to reach McCoy. The two go out of the camera's view, but witnesses said Lawson held McCoy in the corner by his shirt collar.
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Deputies also released multiple body-camera videos showing some of the interviews conducted during their investigation.
Footage shows Lawson told a deputy he was frustrated McCoy put his hands on him, which the deputy interpreted as him wanting to press charges in the incident report. He told the deputy in the interview that he tried to keep the peace.
"I grabbed him by the shirt collar in the area," Lawson said to the deputy. "There was no security guard in the area or police in the area. There was one older security guard. But, just for protection's sake, I had to hold him."
Lawson told the deputy he saw the video. Footage shows him pushing away multiple people and a security guard before running at McCoy.
According to the incident report, the deputy felt that Lawson's reaction to the contact was "excessive and not warranted" and found probable cause to charge both council members.
Both men agreed to not pursue charges against each other.
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In a written statement, Lawson said the video shows he wasn't the aggressor. He also said he hopes McCoy gets help for his anger issue.
McCoy said he hadn't seen the video as of Wednesday. He also said city administration told him the video would never get released.
City Attorney Dawn Wynn asked WPTV not to include the video in this news report, arguing it's confidential because it would show the security system used at Marina Village.
