Video shows Chattanooga officer and man engaged in fist fight on Station Street [video]

William Alexander Floyd
William Alexander Floyd
photo William Alexander Floyd

A man was arrested after an altercation with Chattanooga police that was caught on video early Saturday morning.

William Alexander Floyd is charged with assault, vandalism/malicious mischief, resisting arrest or obstruction of legal process and disorderly conduct, record show.

The video has been circulating on social media, gathering nearly 30,000 views on Twitter and 55,000 views on a copy posted to Facebook as of Sunday evening.

Chattanooga police spokeswoman Elisa Myzal confirmed the officer in the video is a Chattanooga police officer.

The altercation began at around 2:15 a.m. Saturday morning outside Regan's Place, a downtown night club, at 24 Station Street.

Police officers were providing crowd control in front of the club when a tussle broke out between several people and club bouncers, according to an arrest affidavit.

Officers stepped in to break up the brawl when Floyd tried to stop officers from breaking up the fight by stepping in front of an officer and pushing him, the affidavit states.

The officer tried to detain Floyd, but Floyd resisted and eventually punched the officer in the head, breaking his prescription glasses, according to the affidavit.

Other officers finally detained Floyd and took him to the Hamilton County Jail.

The video publicly posted to Twitter shows Floyd and the officer already in the middle of the altercation, while the video publicly posted to Facebook - a copy of the one on Twitter - cuts the first few seconds off, with the officer appearing to throw the first punch.

The two people who posted the videos did not return requests for comment before press time Sunday.

A second video was posted in the comments under the Facebook video that allegedly shows the moments leading up to the moment caught in the viral video.

Zach Heard, who said in a comment that he recorded the video, said the men were told multiple times to leave the area.

"The cops were trying to diffuse the situation but they started pushing the cops," he wrote.

Destiny Phillips, who also posted a copy of what appears to be Heard's video, echoed his account of what happened.

"Well, several of the guys were causing a ruckus and fights at Regan's Place in downtown," she told the Times Free Press via Facebook. "One of the guys that was in the group seemed to have spit at the officer and shove him, and was repetitively trying to fight him."

Phillips said the video posted to Twitter is only a part of a larger video that was cut "to make it seem like a police brutality case," though she was unable to provide the entire video or explain how she obtained the portion she posted.

Heard did not respond to questions about whether his video was part of a larger video.

In Heard's video, Floyd, wearing a plaid shirt, is seen standing by a group of men verbally arguing with a bouncer. A group of officers are also present and appear to be attempting to diffuse the situation.

Then one man appears to try to push a bouncer when an officer steps in and a second man steps between the officer and the man who tried to push the bouncer. Then the group begins moving down the street, police following. Neither of those men were Floyd.

At the very end of that video, when the camera pans to the right, Floyd can vaguely be seen already grappling with the officer. That is where the video posted to Twitter picks up.

Myzal said the entire matter, including what led up to the confrontation is being reviewed by the department, but no officers have been placed on administrative leave.

"The review includes, but is not limited to, reports, interviews, and video," she wrote in an email.

Contact staff writer Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.

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