NAPLES, Fla — Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro is denying allegations of domestic violence after the State Attorney's Office in Monroe County issued an arrest warrant for him this week.
The case is over an incident that occurred on October 28, 2023. The police report of the night includes this:
- LoCastro said he and his girlfriend were "engaged in a verbal dispute" at The London Club on 9th Street South, claiming she was in a "high level of intoxication".
- He said she grabbed his pants, inadvertently tearing them and that the girlfriend had a bloody nose while inside of the club.
- LoCastro told the officer while driving north on U.S. 41, the woman, from the passenger seat, opened her door and fell out of the vehicle. After getting up and falling a second time, she emerged with "scratches on multiple areas of her body".
- The report says, in a separate interview with the woman, she fell down on her own and LoCastro "had not committed any wrongdoing".
- LoCastro and the woman, according to the report, went in different directions after the initial police encounter. Investigators said "there was insufficient evidence to support any battery charge".
State prosecutors served the arrest warrant following an investigation into an alleged incident of battery between LoCastro and a girlfriend.
The initial incident was filed in Naples, and the woman later filed a report on Marco Island, reportedly with a different story.
Both the Naples and Marco Island Police Departments are refusing to provide the records of those incident reports to FOX 4, citing active investigations. The claims could not independently be verified.
In a press release, Commissioner LoCastro vehemently denied the allegations of abuse:
"Four months ago, my date at a social engagement became very intoxicated and fell. Police officers at the scene determined there were no injuries nor any indication of wrongdoing. That evening, she did not blame me or anyone else; she described it as the accident it was. Later, she chose to tell a much different story," LoCastro said in a press statement.
Commissioner LoCastro says he's fully cooperating on the matter.
LoCastro's attorney told FOX 4 that they have not been able to obtain any incident reports either, alleging a political agenda behind the allegations.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Collier County Sheriff's Office confirmed the commissioner had not been booked into the county jail.
