University of Tennessee police and security take down unruly person
Knoxville TN Dec 2 2017 A man who was captured on video being thrown to the ground as campus police arrested him at a University of Tennessee men’s basketball game on Wednesday night later refused medical treatment, police said.
Jonathan Bigelow, 21, was charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and public intoxication. Police didn’t say whether Bigelow is a student, but a “Jon Bigelow” is listed in the UT student directory.
About 8 p.m., an usher at Thompson-Boling Arena told police Bigelow appeared intoxicated and that other attendees at the UT vs. Mercer game had complained he was “being aggressive and using foul language,” reads a statement from the UT Police Department.
“Officers responded to the area and observed the man who appeared unsteady on his feet. They asked him to come with them and immediately noted the strong odor of alcohol. He admitted to the officers that he had been drinking beer. At the time, the officers intended to identify him and ask him to leave the arena.”
As police began to escort Bigelow out of the arena, he began to pull away and ignored orders to stop resisting, police wrote in an arrest warrant.
The officers “attempted to get him through the tunnel away from the public,” the warrant reads. “At this time he struck Cpl. (Billy Ray) Pike with his shoulder, assaulting him.”
An officer behind Bigelow slid his hands under Bigelow’s armpits and took him down to uproar from the crowd, according to a nine-second video captured by UT freshman Tyler Fambrough. Fambrough posted the video on Twitter, where it racked up more than 1,000 retweets in an hour.
After the officers handcuffed Bigelow and escorted him outside, they “twice asked him if he was injured and he said he was not,” the UTPD statement reads. “They offered to summon Emergency Medical Services to check him and twice he refused.”
An officer not assigned to the arena took Bigelow to the Knox County jail. In the police cruiser, Bigelow “continued to be belligerent and banged his head against the plastic cage divider … despite the officer continuously ordering him to stop,” according to the statement.
The arrest took place during a boisterous game, in which the Vols beat Mercer 84-60. During breaks, fans repeatedly launched into chants of “Fire (John) Currie,” as the band played louder and louder in apparent attempts to drown them out. Some crowd members waved signs calling for the athletic director and even UT Chancellor Beverly Davenport to be fired.
The chants were just the latest indication that Vols’ fans ire over the coaching search turned national punchline will not subside quickly.
