Midtown bar fight reignites pleas for Atlanta police accountability

Rolfe is currently on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation by APD’s Office of Professional Standards. APD officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the criticism.

Josh Marich, a former Coweta County deputy, said to the City Council that law enforcement officers must be held to higher standards.

“High standards reduce the risk of misconduct, on and off duty,” Marich said.

Devin Barrington-Ward, a spokesperson for the National Police Accountability Project and Atlanta resident, expressed outrage to the council about the bar altercation.

“You think the people at that bar can trust APD after seeing that?” Barrington-Ward said, adding that the incident poses an unsettling pattern.

“It’s the most outrageous abuse of power,” Barrington-Ward said.

According to an arrest warrant in the bar incident, two APD officers responded to a fight in progress at X Midtown shortly before 1:30 a.m. The officers met Rolfe outside the venue, according to the report.

Rolfe, with a bloody nose, told the officers that his friend had taken a picture of their bartender after he believed he was overcharged for a drink. According to the warrant, Rolfe claimed that a Black man, later identified as bar employee Raefeael “Ray” Penrice, “grabbed his friend and started pulling and pushing him outside of the gate at the business.”

Rolfe said to responding officers that Penrice did not tell him he worked at the establishment until they were outside.

“Mr. Rolfe stated that he asked Mr. Penrice what was going on and that’s when Mr. Penrice grabbed Mr. Rolfe by the collar of his shirt pulling and stretching it,” the warrant states.

Rolfe said Penrice began punching him and that he “attempted to defend himself by delivering closed hand strikes to his body and face,” according to the warrant.

But Penrice had a different account. According to the warrant, Penrice said Rolfe began punching first and that he fought back to defend himself. Penrice said Rolfe told him he was an officer but did not display a badge.

APD released audio of the phone call from Penrice to 911. Penrice said on the call that Rolfe was drunk and following him around as he took out the trash.

“I was trying to get both of them to leave. ... I was trying to get the one guy to leave,” Penrice said on the call. “The other one, he ran up behind me and put me in some kind of hold.”

According to the incident report, two witnesses claimed that Penrice was protecting the bartender. They said Rolfe and his friend hit Penrice first when Penrice asked the men to leave the establishment.

James Nelson, the owner of X Midtown, said Rolfe and his friend have frequented the business before.

Nelson added that X Midtown previously settled a lawsuit with APD after being wrongfully forced to close early during Black Gay Pride festivities in 2017.

“The department, I think, is failing on taking (disciplinary) action against those who just are not there for the right reasons,” Nelson said in a phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, referring to Rolfe. Penrice declined to comment on advice of his attorney.

Penrice was arrested for battery and simple battery and taken to Fulton County Jail. He was released on July 1. Neither Rolfe nor his friend was arrested.

Five years ago, Rolfe’s shooting of Brooks led to widespread protests, the demolition of the Wendy’s where the incident took place and the resignation of then-Chief of Police Erika Shields.

Rolfe was fired from APD one day after the shooting but was later reinstated after the Atlanta Civil Service Board concluded he was not afforded due process. He was placed on administrative leave until the resolution of his criminal charges.

Rolfe was charged with 11 counts, including felony murder, before charges were dropped in August 2022.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with details from a recent Atlanta City Council meeting and press conference beforehand where residents called for more police accountability after the incident.