William Alexander FloydA judge Thursday ordered a Chattanooga man who was recently arrested for fighting with a police officer to pay $1,200 in restitution. Five percent of that amount must go to the officer.
Otherwise, prosecutors agreed to dismiss all but one of William Alexander Floyd’s criminal charges. For his vandalism and mischief charge, the 21-year-old received diversion, an alternate sentence reserved for people with no prior records. If Alexander follows the court’s orders and stays out of trouble, he will get that charge dismissed and possibly expunged at a later date.
“I think, considering what was observed on the video, there were a number of mistakes on both sides,” said Alexander’s defense attorney, McCracken Poston. “I think it was a good resolution, and were glad to make [the] officer whole.”
Floyd was arrested after he and officer Jon Watkins got into an altercation around 2:15 a.m. on June 16 outside Regan’s Place, a downtown nightclub at 24 Station St. Court documents say on-scene officers stepped in when a tussle broke out between several people and club bouncers. As this was happening, Floyd stepped in front of an officer and pushed him, his arrest affidavit states.
CHATTANOOGA TN @WORLDSTAR pic.twitter.com/VEhwN5p39x
— lauren (@laurenfaiths) June 16, 2018
When Watkins tried to grab him, Floyd resisted and eventually punched the officer in the head, breaking his prescription glasses, the affidavit states. Some of their encounter was captured on a video that gathered nearly 55,000 views on social media.
At the time, attorney Poston said Floyd was encouraged to fight by “uniformed individuals.”
Officers arrested Floyd that night and charged him with resisting arrest, assault, public intoxication, vandalism and mischief and disorderly conduct. Prosecutors dismissed everything but the vandalism charge.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.