Kissimmee Florida June 29 2023 Downtown Kissimmee restaurant and bar owners are beginning to form a group to fund security, after a shooting left businesses concerned about safety.

The shooting that caused everyone to mobilize happened on June 4 just after 10 p.m. at Breeze, a bar at 7 E. Dakin Ave. One person was wounded after a man, later identified as Brett Kevin Riddell, 59, fired a single shot into the crowd. Riddell was arrested on June 6 and faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, using a firearm while intoxicated and shooting into an occupied building.

Breeze owner Ray Parsons said during his 12 years owning the bar he has never had a similar incident.

“It’s not a trend that we’ve had,” Parsons said. “There’s not anything I think we could have prevented; it was just a spontaneous action by this one person.”

Parsons worries the shooting could be viewed as the start of a trend and scare people from visiting downtown Kissimmee.

“With this incident happening, we just want to make everyone feel comfortable so we took immediate action to do that,” he said.

There has been other gun violence in the area.

In March, what police called “a drive-by shooting,” left one dead and two injured near downtown Kissimmee.

In October, a shooting left one person injured on Michigan Avenue, about a seven-minute drive away from downtown Kissimmee.

Parsons and five other business owners in the downtown area have had conversations about forming a group to fund private security over the weekends in downtown Kissimmee and have already hired an off-duty officer.

This follows after Orlando leaders adopted an ordinance that requires downtown bars to help fund public safety expenses. The ordinance took effect the first week of May despite objections from some bar owners in downtown Orlando over having to fund security for everyone — a difference in mindset from downtown Kissimmee, where most bar and restaurant owners want to pay.

“One of the things we want to do is put patrol where they get to know the customers, our regular customers and the people that frequent downtown so that if there is a stranger or somebody that feels inappropriate, they can recognize them,” Parsons said. “We’re trying to get that type of communication of relationship with the officers but, you know, that costs money.”

Hiring an off-duty police officer is around $50 per hour and Parsons said he paid around $300 per night for his bar that only seats about 35 people.

“It’s expensive for a bar the size of Breeze because, proportionately to its income, it’s a little bit disproportionate from what you would normally budget,” Parsons said. “I think in the long run … it’s going to be a good investment just to let everyone know they can have a safe experience.”

Angel Roman, owner of restaurant and bar 2 Brother’s Steakhouse and one of the five businesses forming the group, said he agrees with Parsons’ idea to fund private security together. Roman said he also already hires his own private security but wants to make more investments for the community to feel comfortable.

“That’s my concern, for the customers to feel comfortable, and right now security is not the problem but we need prevention,” Roman said. “We need a prevention plan.”

The private security at 2 Brother’s Steakhouse has started to pat people down after the incident at Breeze, Roman said.

Roman said he wants to have more private security rather than official police officers patrolling because he worries it’s taking emergency officials away from the community and believes safety falls on the backs of the bar and restaurant owners.

“If you take two or three or four police officers to patrol the area that’s not good because, what if something happens and the police are staying in this area?” Roman said. “Pay private security for dedicated security … that’s showing consideration for the community.”

Jackie Espinosa, owner of Matador Tacos and Tapas Bar, said she has heard customers express safety concerns.

“We’ll have some customers say they’re not going to Dakin [Avenue],” Espinosa said. “So we’re trying to make sure people see if they don’t go to Dakin they won’t come to Broadway. We want to make sure everyone feels that it’s going to be OK.”

Espinosa is not part of the businesses in the group funding private security because her restaurant closes by midnight.

“If I were to do something with them cohesively I would, but right now we just don’t share the same hours,” Espinosa said. “If I had to because it’s part of what everyone in downtown wanted to do I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to that.”

On Tuesday, Espinosa hosted the quarterly Coffee with a Cop at her restaurant to discuss safety with the businesses, Kissimmee Police Department officers and customers.

“You are safe; we don’t want you to feel unsafe and stop supporting small businesses,” Espinosa told the crowd of over 50 packed into her restaurant. “In the stretch of so many years, we really don’t see that kind of activity.”

The city of Kissimmee is also taking action.

“Per the direction of the city commission, the City of Kissimmee is in the planning phase of posting a workshop where we will be able to have discussions with the city commission, public safety and local businesses,” Kissimmee spokesperson Stephanie Bechara in an email. “In this conversation we want to consider the potential of a variety of options that are beneficial for everyone involved.”

Bechara said businesses in downtown Kissimmee have collaborated and hired an additional off-duty patrol officer, which began June 10 and 11, in addition to the dedicated Kissimmee Police Department’s downtown patrol. The off-duty officer is slated for Fridays and Saturdays from 10 p.m. through 2 a.m. going forward, she said.

“It is primarily foot patrol presence on Dakin Avenue with visits to Breeze Kissimmee, 3 Sisters Speakeasy, 2 Brother’s Steakhouse, Vintage Vino, the City Center Parking Garage and the adjacent side streets,” she said.

Wilson Munoz, the deputy chief of police at the Kissimmee Police Department, said residents don’t need to panic and the Coffee with Cop community meeting is one way to stay informed.

“We want to make sure that the people know that we have the resources, we are deploying the resources and that business owners are coming together as well,” Munoz said “As a team, we will make it safer.”

Munoz said prior to the incident, community engagement units patrolled on bicycles and on foot during the day and night.

“They’ve actually added weekends to their schedule,” Munoz said.

There is also a Counter-Crimes Unit, usually in unmarked cars, which is stepping up coverage and patrol of the area, Munoz said.

Munoz said the purpose of all these units is to prevent an incident from happening and, with the additional off-duty officers hired by the businesses, he feels they are doing enough.

“I think we’re doing pretty good with resources in this small area,” Munoz said.

Munoz said the Coffee with a Cop community event was important because it allowed for KPD to educate the community and speak with businesses.

“We are reassuring them that, you know, we are doing everything we can in partnership with them and that our goal is to prevent another incident in this downtown area,” Munoz said. “We can’t be everywhere but that’s our goal.”

Orlando Sentinel

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