Ohio police chief claiming he was 'stabbed' is in a Florida jail after attacking homeless man: report

Boston Heights, Ohio, Police Chief Chad McArdle is detained in a Florida jail on $2,500 bond after he was identified as the suspect who attacked a homeless man, The Messenger reports.

Per The Messenger, the Key West Police Department report noted "a taxi driver called 911 around 1 a.m. to report a man was banging his hands against the cab door and saying 'some people wanted to kill him and that he got stabbed in the face and chest.'"

The man was 40-year-old McArdle, who was "lying on the sidewalk and crying," according to the report.

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However, The Messenger reports, when "Police showed up to the scene and questioned McArdle, who reportedly seemed disoriented," his recollection of events "didn't exactly corroborate with the taxi driver's" story — and neither did the video footage.

Furthermore, a clearly "stressed out" and "lost" McArdle, according to police, did not show signs of any stab wounds as the taxi driver reported.

The police chief told Key West officials "he had been pushed" outside of a bar, "and then dragged by two white men into a vehicle, where he was supposedly stabbed with a stick," before he "wrestled the stick away and returned a stab, claiming he likely killed a man, recounted authorities."

However, a homeless man at the scene identified McArdle as his attacker, said the police chief "kicked him to the ground in the alleyway, then repeatedly kicked him after he fell," which the police report notes occurred "for no apparent reason."

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The Messenger's full report is available at this link.