Attorney for Chris Young releases bar surveillance video, calls for charges to be dropped
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Surveillance video released by Chris Young's attorney is raising questions on the country star's arrest Monday night at a popular Nashville bar.
Young was taken into custody and is accused of disorderly conduct for an incident that began at Tin Roof.According to the arrest warrant, Young was sitting at the bar when the Tennessee Alcohol Beverage Commission (ABC) checked his ID.
They left and went to the bar next door, Dawg House Saloon. Young later followed. Young asked the agents questions then he began video recording them before allegedly putting his hands out to stop an officer from leaving. The officer also claims Young "stuck" him on the shoulder.
Young's attorney Bill Ramsey released video of the incident, saying "the 6’4” singer was forcefully shoved to the ground."
Ramsey also released a statement on behalf of Young regarding his arrest for disorderly conduct. See the full statement from Ramsey below:
What happened to my client Chris Young at a bar in Nashville on Monday night was wrong and he never should have been arrested and charged in the first place. In light of the video evidence, Tennessee ABC needs to drop the charges and apologize for the physical, emotional and professional harm done towards my client .
RetiredMetro Police officer Ken Alexandrow broke down the video.
"I'm looking at this from the eyes of an officer doing the investigation, and I go into the Tin Roof, maybe ask for some ID's for the ABC cards, and everybody complies. Then I go to the bar next door, and all of a sudden, customers from the bar next door follow me into the new bar. That’s not normal," said Alexandrow."Keep in mind we have no audio here, so we don’t know if anyone is antagonizing anybody. We're just going by simply what can be seen."
According to the police affidavit, when the ABC agents finished their compliance check at Dawg House and went to leave, Young put his hand out. You see that in the video from two different angles. Young is then pushed, falling to the ground.
"When someone grabs you or puts their hands on you, and you don’t know what their intentions are, you check them back to create space and distance. It's called a reactionary gap," saidAlexandrow.
Young's attorney says what happened to his client was wrong, butAlexandrow sees it differently.
"Or Chris could just apologize for sticking his nose in somebody's business," said Alexandrow. "It is against the law to interfere with an investigation, right? So, he’s breaking the law, and then as soon as he put his hands on the agent, he committed a crime. Therefore, he was arrested."
FOX 17 News asked the ABC for a response, but they referred us back to the police documents, saying they can't comment further at this time.
We spokewith Dawg House Saloon who says this all came as a surprise to them, saying Young has never caused any problems, never been disorderly or disrespectful in the past.