MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A witness claims two security guards took things too far when they subdued a man outside FedExForum Sunday morning.
Jlexis Brown shot video of a man police identify as 20-year-old Zakar Davis exchanging blows with one of the security guards around 2 a.m.
It’s not clear from the video who throws the first punch, but pretty soon, a second security guards joins the first one. Together, they drag the man to the ground and hurl blows at him as spectators look on.
“They started punching and fighting and hitting him. Both of those guys,” said Brown.
Before the altercation, you can see a shirtless Davis dancing in front of the guards and waving his hands in their faces. But Brown said nothing he did deserved such rough treatment.
“It wasn’t even called for for both of them to even hit him. He’s not that big, no way. And he wasn’t resisting, so why did y’all keep on hitting him?”
Police said things started when security wouldn’t allow Davis to enter Beale Street since he’s underage. A security guard told police Davis ran up and hit him on the forehead and that he was fighting back.
Brown disputes that account.
“He [Davis] didn’t actually touch no one because they touched him. The only thing he did was put his hands in they face.”
Davis was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, public intoxication and assault.
But questions continue to swirl about one of the security guards in the video, whom WREG is not naming since he hasn’t been charged with a crime.
The only security guard license we could find for him expired in March, and a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance confirms the security guard is not currently licensed in Tennessee.
We couldn’t get ahold of anyone with the Beale Street Merchants Association to learn which company the guards work for.
Whichever company it is, Brown thinks they should lose more than their jobs.
“Think they should be charged,” she said.
WREG reached out to Davis, who’s out of jail on a $100 bond, but never heard back. He’s due in court October 30.
