Phoenix and Scottsdale Police are looking into two assaults that may be connected, one involving a former NHL player and another a golf club employee. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, an employee at Raven Golf Club in Phoenix was allegedly attacked by a group of men who may also be responsible for assaulting former Arizona Coyotes player Paul Bissonnette on the same night, last Sunday. The victim, identified only as "Carter," claims to have been hit by the same group earlier in the day before they targeted Bissonnette at a restaurant in Scottsdale.
ABC15 reported details of Carter's ordeal, who recounted being confronted by an aggressive patron as the restaurant was closing, "He got in my face immediately, [and said ] ‘I don’t listen to people, nobody talks to me that way’ which I don’t really know what he meant by that. I was just saying it was time to go. I wasn’t swearing, I wasn’t being antagonistic, nothing like that." The confrontation escalated quickly according to Carter's statement, "I step around the table and he just runs at me, swings at me. He pins me up against the wall, hits me a couple times, we knock over a couple chairs, hits me again, clips me good in the temple and I kind of go down and by the time I looked back up they were gone."
Carter saw a news report on Bissonnette's assault and recognized the suspects, "By the end of my shift, that’s when they released the mugshots and I said oh my that’s them." Carter's case, supported by surveillance video and an account of aggressive behavior by a man in a green shirt, mirrors the similar situation in Scottsdale, as per ABC15.
Bissonnette, a well-known former enforcer on the ice, recounted his own harrowing experience on his Barstool Sports podcast Spittin' Chiclets. He described attempting to de-escalate a situation involving the six men and being physically attacked, "I said, ‘Listen guy, if you keep harassing and assaulting the staff, we’re going to go outside and have some problems.’ The minute that left my mouth, the guy starts throwing punches," he recalled, FOX 10 Phoenix reports. The majority of the alleged attackers hailed from Fort Worth, Texas, were arrested but ultimately released, raising questions and concerns from both victims about the ease with which violent offenders seem to evade substantial reprisal.
Both the Phoenix and Scottsdale Police Departments are conducting independent investigations into the incidents, and no official link has been established between the two cases. However, the narrative shared by Carter leaves little room for doubt about the connection between the two assaults, and as both victims await justice. Carter's last recollection to FOX 10 Phoenix holds a sentiment of unresolved injustice: "I think they should be punished for what they did," he said. "People can’t just go around beating people up, then getting away with it."
