MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, when things should have been settling down on Beale Street.
However things were apparently heating up at Third and Beale.
That’s where a Memphis Police Officer saw a woman being assaulted.
According to the police report, the officer said he saw a woman being forced by a man into a maroon Kia with Illinois tags.
He identified himself as a cop, showed his badge and told the man, 34-year-old Philip Boyd, to sit on the curb.
That’s when police said the Kia pulled up to the curb and another man, Christopher Logan, got out.
The report said Logan and Boyd started kicking, stomping and hitting the officer in the head and upper body, leaving him scraped and bruised.
He was knocked down and his $600 watch was stolen.
Tourist on Beale heard about the crime, but weren’t swayed by it.
“That always happens in a big city. You can’t avoid them. That’s nature and the way people are today, unfortunately. It worries us a little bit but not too much,” says George Nasello, visiting from Toronto, Canada.
When other officers showed up, police said Boyd tried to run.
They caught him and said he continued to fight the uniformed officers elbowing them in the face, knocking them down and kicking them in the back.
Both men were eventually arrested.
Logan told police he assaulted the officer because he thought his friend was being attacked.
Crime has some visitors looking over their shoulders, but not shunning Memphis’ famous street.
“You are careful when you are out. You don’t do anything here that you wouldn’t do at home. Just because you are a tourist you have to watch,” says Joanne Nasello. “It’s a great city. You want to get out and enjoy it. ”
Boyd and Logan were charged with evading arrest and robbery.
Boyd was also charged with assault-bodily harm.
They both were scheduled to be back in court Tuesday.
Their arrest tickets showed they were not from Memphis, but lived in Chicago.
