Country music singer Chris Young was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer and resisting arrest following an altercation at a bar in Nashville on Monday night, authorities said.
According to an arrest affidavit filed in a criminal court in Nashville, while Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents were checking IDs at a downtown Nashville bar, Mr. Young, 38, attacked one of the agents. It says agents handcuffed Mr. Young because he did not follow their orders.
Mr. Young’s breakthrough came when he won the country-music reality TV competition “Nashville Star” in 2006. His second album, “The Man I Want to Be”, released in 2009, became a platinum hit in the United States. It has remained a fixture on the Billboard country charts ever since.
Mr. Young’s attorney, Bill Ramsey, said in an emailed statement that what happened to his client was “wrong and he should never have been arrested or charged.”
The arrest affidavit states that Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents arrived at a bar called the Tin Roof at about 8:30 p.m. to check the IDs of patrons, including Mr. Young. After the investigation, Mr. Young began asking the agents questions, to which he said they answered, and they began video recording him.
The agents left and went to a bar next door, called the Doghouse Salon. The arrest affidavit states that Mr. Young and his friends followed him and started talking to people there. After the agents completed their compliance checks, Mr. Young tried to stop an agent from leaving and struck him in the shoulder, the affidavit said.
Surveillance footage from the Doghouse Salon shared by Mr. Young’s representatives showed that Mr. Young was standing near the bar wearing gray pants and a black jacket when agents walked past him.
According to the video, as one of the agents walked by, Mr. Young put his hands on him, walked backward with the agent and apparently said something. The agent then pushed Mr. Young with both hands, and Mr. Young staggered backward and his back hit the corner of the bar table, causing him to fall briefly, the video shows.
Mr. Young then got up, raised both his hands in the air and walked back away from the agents.
The Alcoholic Beverage Commission said Joseph Phillips, the agent who was attacked, pushed Mr Young to distance himself, then other patrons got up to intervene. Another agent tried to talk to Mr. Young, who did not comply with commands, the affidavit said. Then the agents took him into custody.
The affidavit described Mr Young as making “obscene speeches” and his eyes were “bloodshot and watery”. It also said those who were with Mr Young were “making the event hostile.”
Mr Ramsey said that in light of the video footage captured at the bar, the Alcoholic Beverage Commission needed to withdraw the charges and apologize for the “physical, emotional and professional harm” caused to Mr Young.
According to the Nashville Criminal Court Clerk’s report, Mr. Young was later taken into custody and released on bond of $250 for the disorderly conduct charge, $1,000 for the charge of resisting arrest and $1,250 for the assault charge. given. He is expected to appear in court on February 16.
amy ortiz And Eduardo Medina Contributed to the reporting.
