Downtown Nashville security guard charged after patron punched, critically injured
Nashville TN March 7 2024 A security guard at Tin Roof is being charged with aggravated assault after police say he left a man in extremely critical condition last month at the downtown Nashville bar.
The guard, Richard Cornelius, 36, of Antioch, denied Austin Turner, 26, of Hendersonville, entry to the Demonbreun Street bar on Feb. 18, resulting in an altercation between the two, Metro Nashville police said in a Tuesday news release.
During the incident, police said Cornelius struck Turner, causing the man to fall to the ground unconscious.
Turner remained at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Tuesday, where he is listed in extremely critical condition.
Cornelius was arrested and later released on $25,000 bond, police said.
“We can’t comment on an ongoing investigation, but we are fully cooperating to aid law enforcement in their efforts and will continue to do so. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Austin Turner,” Tin Roof CEO Bob Franklin said in an emailed statement.
In June 2022, Gov. Bill Lee signed a law tightening security guard training requiring first aid, CPR, restraint and de-escalation training for private security guards.
Nashville police said Cornelius was a licensed guard.
The bill, dubbed “Dallas’s Law,” comes after Dallas “DJ” Barrett died in August 2021. He’d been in a fight with guards at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row in Nashville. The law applies to both unarmed and armed guards statewide.
