HollyMatkinColumbus, GA – A combative U.S. Army soldier was captured on cellphone video early Sunday morning, as he drunkenly fought multiple officers outside of a bar (video below).
An off-duty Columbus police officer was working security at the Hooch bar at approximately 2:50 a.m., when he witnessed Travon Matthews, 25, throw a cell phone at another customer, the Ledger-Enquirer reported.
The off-duty officer instructed Matthews to leave, but he refused.
A substantial crowd of onlookers could be seen in the video, as the situation continued to escalate.
Uniformed officers intervened, and told Matthews he was under arrest.
But as one officer began to place a handcuff on Matthews’ left wrist, the soldier stepped back, and shoved the officer’s hand away.
“Put your hands behind your back,” an officer said in the video, just moments before Matthews dodged away from a second officer.
Police then converged on the drunken man, who actively resisted their efforts.
“Fight ‘em as long as you can!” one onlooker chanted repeatedly.
“Tase his a**!” another person in the crowd hollered.
The video showed Matthews as he began actively fighting the three or four officers at the scene. At least one patron appeared to join the melee for a moment, but was quickly ordered to back up by police.
Matthews was eventually tased and subdued, and could be seen lying on the ground as he was placed into handcuffs.
He sustained a small laceration to his head during his altercation with police, and was treated at a local medical center before being booked into the Muscogee County Jail on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct while intoxicated and obstruction, the Ledger-Enquirer reported.
Matthews, who is based out of Fort Benning, was scheduled to make his first court appearance on Monday.
You can see the video of the altercation below (Courtesy of David Jackson):