Andrew
Shain and Mindy Lucas
The State
The State
COLUMBIA, S.C. The Columbia Police officer suspended after a
video posted on social media showed him punching an man on the ground outside a
concert venue early Sunday morning has no previous disciplinary record with the
department, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said.
Investigator Tyrone Pugh was suspended Sunday without pay
pending the outcome of an internal and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
investigation, Holbrook said Monday in revealing the name of the officer.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin told The State on Monday that
he was "gravely concerned" about what he saw Pugh doing in the video.
A 15-second video of the incident outside the Columbia
Soundstage posted online shows Pugh in uniform kneeling on a man who was on the
ground and laying to their side. Pugh strikes the man around his head at least
five times in the video.
"Stay on the ground! Stay on the ground!" Pugh
shouts to the man while punching him.
"Why are you punching him?" the woman taking the
video screams at Pugh.
"Back the (expletive) up!" Pugh tells the video
shooter.
Robyn Fogg, who shot the video, said the man on the ground
was not involved in the fight. The man was standing near the scuffle when
police arrived.
Fogg said an officer grabbed the man, threw him to the
ground and started punching him.
"He said, 'I didn't do anything.' He wasn't
resisting," said Fogg, who will join the Army later this month. "I
think it was unnecessary. Two other cops there were aggressive but not like
that."
The man on the ground, whose name has not been released, was
not arrested, a Columbia police spokeswoman said. Two other 23-year-old men
were arrested and charged for fighting.
Fogg said the party of about 300 people celebrating her
upcoming 20th birthday was uneventful before the fight in the parking lot as
everyone was leaving.
Holbrook, who confirmed Monday that Fogg's video was the
same one that his department reviewed, told The State that Pugh and the person
on the ground were both African-American.
Pugh has worked with the Columbia Police Department since
May 2007, the chief said. He was promoted to the rank of Investigator with the
Criminal Investigations Division in 2013 and is assigned to the Property Crimes
Unit.
Additionally, Pugh is a first sergeant in the U.S. Army
Reserve with nearly 29 years of military service, Holbrook said.
Holbrook declined further comment about the case.
Benjamin said he learned Pugh was suspended without an hour
after speaking with Holbrook about the incident late Sunday afternoon.
"I know there are multiple sides to the story,"
Benjamin said. "(The video) left me gravely concerned as to what the
possible circumstances might have been, and I shared that with the chief and he
acted accordingly."
The incident involving the officer occurred after 2 a.m.
Sunday outside the Columbia Soundstage on Blanding Street, Holbrook said. The
venue is used to host concerts and other events.
Five uniformed off-duty police officers were working in the
venue's parking lot and responded to a large fight, Holbrook said.
The incident involving Pugh that is under investigation
occurred as officers attempted to control the crowd and investigate the
scuffle, Holbrook said.