On May 9, 2023, Ryan Gold was swimming laps at the pool of his apartment complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, when a dispute developed between him and another resident. During the confrontation, the other man lifted his shirt and exposed a concealed firearm. Ryan moved away from the confrontation, called 911, reported that a man had displayed a gun at him, and waited for police to arrive. What happened after the first officer reached the property would become the central issue in a case later examined through body-camera footage, apartment surveillance video, an internal affairs investigation, and the criminal case involving the armed resident.
When Officer Bethany Guerrero approached Ryan, she began by ordering him to keep his hands out of his pockets. Ryan immediately told her, "I'm not the one with the gun." Guerrero repeated the command, telling him to put his phone down and keep his hands visible. Ryan protested that he had not committed a crime and told her not to speak to him as though he had. The conversation escalated almost immediately, before officers had fully sorted out which person had made the 911 call and which person had been reported as armed.
Guerrero told Ryan that she did not know him and continued issuing commands. Ryan responded, "You're the one with the gun," referring to the officer, while questioning why she was treating him as the suspect. When he moved toward his phone, Guerrero ordered him to the ground and drew her firearm. "Get down on the ground now," she repeated. Ryan protested that he had committed no crime, but Guerrero told him to put his hands out to his sides and then behind his back.
Ryan continued asking what he was being detained or arrested for. Guerrero told him she was detaining him because he was not listening to her commands. Ryan answered that refusing to follow an unexplained order was not itself the crime he had called police about and asked whether the officers' body cameras were recording. When Guerrero confirmed they were, Ryan said, "Good. I called you guys for help because this guy's brandishing a gun at me." At that moment, the man who had actually been reported with the firearm remained elsewhere on the apartment property.
The confrontation continued after Ryan was handcuffed on the ground. He repeatedly asked for a supervisor, asked what crime he was suspected of, and demanded an explanation for why the person who called police was being restrained. Guerrero emphasized that she had ordered him to keep his hands out of his pockets and that he had not complied. Ryan countered that he had no gun and had not committed a crime. Their voices rose as other officers arrived and attempted to lower the tension.
At one point, Ryan asked for Guerrero's badge number and name. She identified herself as Guerrero and gave badge number 321, spelling her surname for him. Ryan continued to object to being handcuffed and questioned whether concern for officer safety alone justified what was happening. Guerrero responded that she had every right to give commands under the circumstances. Another officer urged both sides to bring the confrontation down a notch, but the dispute over why Ryan was restrained remained unresolved at the scene.
Ryan kept asking, "What crime am I in handcuffs for?" One officer told him that he was under suspicion of a crime, without immediately identifying a specific offense. Ryan argued that officers could not simply detain random people without a lawful basis. He asked whether anyone present was a supervisor and said he would calm down if they allowed him to stand. Officers refused and ordered him to remain seated.
The exchange became increasingly adversarial. Ryan challenged the officers to either identify the offense or arrest him, while officers told him to stop talking and follow directions. Eventually, he was told he was under arrest. When officers asked for his name, Ryan continued insisting that they first tell him what crime had led to the arrest. One officer referenced resisting arrest as an additional or secondary charge, and Ryan was prepared for transport to jail.
The body-camera exchange before transport showed how far the original purpose of the call had been lost. Ryan asked, "Are you in charge of this lady?" and repeatedly tried to find someone who could explain why he was the person sitting handcuffed on the ground. An officer told him to keep quiet so they could speak, while Ryan answered that he would not stop asking what offense he was suspected of. When he tried to negotiate being allowed to stand, officers told him to remain seated and warned him not to get up.
Ryan then told the officers that if they truly believed he had committed a crime, they should arrest him and take him to jail. One officer responded that he was, in fact, under arrest. The argument immediately shifted to identification: officers wanted his name, while Ryan insisted they identify the criminal basis first. He pointed out that resisting arrest would be a secondary charge and could not by itself explain why the encounter had begun. Officers nevertheless continued the transport process while the person Ryan had accused of displaying a gun had not yet been fully interviewed.