Man arrested for DUI after reportedly pointing gun at Nashville security guard
NASHVILLE, Tenn. February 19 2024 A man is facing charges after being accused of pointing a gun at a security guard at a bar and then driving under the influence (DUI) along Broadway overnight.
According to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), officers were dispatched to Losers Bar and Grill in the 1900 block of Division Street shortly after 11 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17 for a report of a person with a weapon. When authorities arrived at the scene, they spoke with a security guard at the venue, who said a man was being disorderly in the bar, so the guard had to escort him out.
Authorities said the man left and got into his vehicle, which was described to law enforcement as a 2010s model of a black Chevrolet Tahoe with a distinctive trailer hitch.
Then, he allegedly drove by the bar where the guard was standing, rolled down his window, flashed a firearm at the guard, drove down the street, turned around, drove by the guard again, rolled down his window, and directly pointed the gun at the guard. The guard reported feeling threatened both times the man passed by.
According to officials, the guard pulled footage of the man inside the bar to show officers, who alerted the Entertainment District Unit, allowing them to find the suspect on Broadway within a couple hours.
Just after 1 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18, an officer said a person approached them, stating that his vehicle was hit in the parking lot between Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar and and the Broadway Brewhouse Downtown.
The officer responded to the location and saw a black Dodge Durango and a black Chevrolet Tahoe, with the individual saying the driver of the Tahoe hit his vehicle. The officer made contact with the Tahoe driver, noting that he had watery and bloodshot eyes.
According to the officer, the driver said it was okay and his insurance would pay for the damage before he got out of the SUV and quickly moved toward the back of the vehicle.
“The driver appeared to be swaying and being unsteady on his feet. I got closer to the driver and detected a strong odor of intoxicants coming from his mouth area,” the officer explained in a statement sent to News 2 by the MNPD.
After the officer asked the driver how much alcohol he had to drink, they said the driver “stated nothing, then one beer and then 1 shot.” The officer also asked the driver if he was injured, to which he replied “no.”
“I then instructed the driver the horizontal gaze nystagmus and observed 2 of 6 clues. The driver was not following the pen with his eyes and was moving his head,” the officer described. “I instructed the driver several times to follow with eyes only and the driver failed to do so. I did not administer any other test. I then placed the driver under arrest for DUI.”
While doing an inventory of the vehicle, the officer said they saw a black semi-automatic handgun on the driver’s floorboard, as well as a half-empty bottle of tequila on the driver’s seat and an empty tequila bottle in the driver’s side door pocket.
The officer reportedly read the driver his Miranda Rights, which the driver understood, and the implied consent warning, which the driver also understood and agreed to do. However, when the officer brought the driver to jail and started to perform the blood alcohol content process, they said the driver became argumentative and refused the breath test, so the driver was booked into jail for DUI, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, and implied consent refusal.
Authorities confirmed the suspect in the incident outside Losers Bar and Grill was taken into custody for DUI around 1 a.m. on Broadway, adding that the weapon found during the arrest was from the bar incident. The security guard also confirmed the DUI suspect was the man who allegedly pointed the gun outside Losers Bar and Grill.
