Police arrested two men Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium on separate charges of selling fraudulent tickets and unauthorized passes to fans attending the Miami Dolphins home game against the Buffalo Bills, according to arrest affidavits.
In one case, Miami Gardens police officers said 58-year-old Paul Anthony Ewald, of Davie, was observed by plainclothes detectives working off-duty security approaching multiple people outside the stadium and offering them entry passes. Ewald allegedly handed five people paper “team store re-entry” passes and escorted them through a gate to make it appear as though they were reentering from the store. Once inside, the group was stopped by detectives.
According to the arrest affidavit, witnesses told investigators they agreed to pay Ewald $50 each once inside, with the understanding that the tickets would only provide standing-room access. Security footage reviewed with stadium representatives showed Ewald repeatedly escorting groups of fans denied at the box office from the southeast gate to the team store entrance, using the same re-entry passes to get them in, police said. Ewald himself did not have a valid ticket and it remains unclear how he obtained the paper passes, the affidavit stated.
Ewald was charged with organized scheme to defraud and trespass at a sporting event while soliciting money, both third-degree felonies. He was taken into custody at the stadium and held for a bond hearing.
Man accused of selling fake digital tickets during same Dolphins game
In a separate incident, detectives arrested Benito Deull, 44, of Miami, after a fan reported being sold a fake digital ticket.
According to the arrest affidavit, a victim identified as “Mr. Elison” showed stadium staff a mobile ticket for Section 245, Row 1 — a row that does not exist. He told police he purchased the ticket in cash from a man outside the southwest gate and later provided officers with a business card containing the seller’s contact information and Cash App and Venmo usernames.
Detectives conducted an online search and found a photo of Deull associated with one of the usernames. When shown the image, the victim identified him as the seller, arrest documents stated. Officers said they located Deull within 100 feet of the same gate engaging in another transaction and took him into custody.
Once detained, Deull told officers he was a “ticket broker,” according to the affidavit. Investigators said text messages from his phone showed him telling the buyer, “remember you can’t sit in those seats” and referring to the sale as “general admission,” even though stadium policy requires all tickets to have assigned seats.
Deull was charged with organized scheme to defraud, a third-degree felony, and also held for a bond hearing.
Both arrests took place around 2:15 p.m., about an hour after kickoff time.
