TN bar beer license suspended after security guard gets in fight
Chattanooga TN March 7 2020 The Chattanooga Beer & Wrecker Board suspended the licenses of Southside Social for five days during its meeting Thursday.
Southside Social received its suspension for failure to report a fight between its then head of security, Nathan Thompson, and a patron. Officer John Foster told the board that he ended up arresting the club security guard involved in the fight after determining that he had used excessive force and later admitted to another officer that he had used cocaine that night while on duty.
When he arrived, Foster said he found a man in the Republic Parking lot across from the club on Chestnut Street with cuts on his face. He told Foster that the altercation came after Thompson witnessed the alleged victim and a woman leave the same bathroom on the second floor of the venue and told them to leave.
The patron told the officer that he “got verbal’ with the guard and a fight ensued. When other security personnel arrived, Foster said the patron told him he raised his hands in submission and the guard hit him twice with his radio.
State law requires that the club report all such fights and incidents big and small. Eric Fish was manager on duty on Feb. 9 when the incident happened and told the board he was not aware of the fight until police officers arrived.
Officer John Collins told the board that only one call was made to report the fight and that it came from the patron.
General Manager Josh Lang told the board that the Thompson had been on the job about eight months and had been responsible for making several improvements to the club’s security system including adding more communication headsets and training.
Lang said he dismissed the guard the day after the incident and that J-Hall Security has since been hired by the venue.
