New Year’s Eve Altercation at Florida Country Club

On New Year’s Eve, a chaotic scene unfolded at a Florida country club involving a heavyset Long Island lawyer known for a troubling past. Ronald David Ingber, weighing in at 550 pounds, sparked a significant disturbance at the $95,000-a-year Wycliffe Country Club, reportedly due to a dispute over a poolside lounge chair with his younger girlfriend.

Video footage from the incident on December 31 captures Ingber, 52, forcibly taking a young man’s cell phone and tossing it into the pool. The clip, lasting about 49 seconds, shows the taken-aback man retreating and shouting insults as he points at Ingber.

“What are you doing?” a female companion of the young man yelled at Ingber. Another man, dressed in casual attire, approached and, clearly agitated, asked if he could retrieve his cell phone before he sought help from the staff. “He threw my phone into the pool!” the young man exclaimed in frustration. The video indicates that Ingber just stared for a moment before sitting down as club personnel arrived to diffuse the situation.

In a separate video segment, tensions seemed to escalate as an older woman confronted someone lounging poolside, accusing them of taking their chair. Amid the chaos, Ingber, who is also a father of two, stood up and engaged with the group.

Ingber’s legal troubles extend beyond this incident; in October, his mistress filed a lawsuit against him in Brooklyn federal court. Allegations range from emotional abuse to bizarre actions, like claiming he installed hidden cameras in her apartment. He denies all accusations in the pending lawsuit.

Addressing the country club incident, Ingber claims he was acting in self-defense. “I was accosted. I thought someone had waved a weapon in front of me,” he asserted, suggesting that additional video evidence exists. He emphasized that the situation escalated despite the presence of club staff.

The conflict reportedly arose over the use of a pool chair, and Ingber’s lawyer stated that their family was misidentified as part of the original dispute, becoming targets as the situation intensified.

“When someone approached aggressively, I reacted instinctively to protect my family,” Ingber explained. His lawyer noted that the entire episode could have ended badly but fortunately didn’t result in injuries.

In response to inquiries about the disturbance, the country club downplayed the event’s significance. According to the general manager, Rob Martin, it was an isolated incident swiftly managed by management, with no injuries reported and no lingering safety concerns. The matter is set to be handled internally per club protocols.