Friday, December 12th, 2014: A Date I Will Never Forget

The Christmas Party

The title of this article says it all. Other news organizations have done stories about it, but I’ve never had a chance to tell my side of the story.

I’m talking about the night I was arrested and cited for Disorderly Conduct at The Country Club in Augusta.

My mug shot.

I’m not writing this to point fingers at anyone involved, in fact, the arrest is my fault and mine alone. Days after my arrest, I did a public on-air apology for the incident. It was one of the most difficult, uncomfortable and embarrassing moments of my life.

Friday, December 12th, 2014. That night was the annual WJBF/WAGT Christmas Party. I was on vacation that entire week, so before I went to the event, I spent some time with friends. What did we do? We ate lunch and had a few alcoholic beverages.

Drinking is an activity that is no stranger to those in our industry. Our jobs are stressful, fast-moving and can also be depressing because of the various negative stories we cover. We see a lot and know a lot. It’s tough. I’m not alone as there are a lot of national anchors who have come out and admitted to having problems with alcohol and anxiety.

I believe the Christmas Party got started around 7:00 p.m. that night. When I showed up, I already had a few drinks in my system. For the next few hours, I drank more. And more. And then some. It was a Christmas Party. A celebration, of course.

The event had an open bar with beer and wine. I was drinking white wine that night. And oh yeah, the party had plenty of food… but I forgot to have any of it. I was too busy talking with co-workers and my friends. The lack of food that night was ultimately the thing that put me over the limit, but I didn’t know that at the time.

The Country Club

When the Television Park party ended, there was talk that a bunch of people were going to The Country Club. Of course, I wanted in. The night was young. I asked a co-worker and good friend of mine if he could drive me, since I was clearly drunk and did not want to be behind the wheel.

We went to The Country Club and for the most part, we all had a good time. I had one drink there and then I started drinking water. While I was there, I stayed with our group of friends. I never got on the dance floor nor start-up a conversation with anyone else.

About an hour or so after arriving, the co-worker who drove me there and I decided it was probably a good idea to go home. I went to the bathroom first and that’s when the incident started.

I was approached by Deputy Barry Davis, Jr. of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office. He was in-uniform, but not on-duty. He was working a special for the venue. It’s something he and other deputies do all the time to make some extra money.

Davis told me that I was being kicked out of The Country Club, so I questioned him about it. “Why am I being kicked out? I don’t understand. I didn’t do anything.”

The deputy then grabbed me and started bringing me toward the exit to get me out of the club. Unfortunately, the area where this was happening was not near the group of friends and co-workers I was hanging out with. Only two friends saw the incident unfold.

The Jail Report, Austin Rhodes and TVSpy initially reported that I was arrested because I was “intoxicated and tried to grab a deputy’s taser.”

Was I drunk? Absolutely.

Did I try to grab the deputy’s taser though? Absolutely not. It never happened. In fact, nowhere in the citation or the incident report did it ever say I grabbed Davis’ taser.

So what happened? Well, I was thrown and pushed around in an effort to get me to the exit. Davis was grabbing me pretty aggressively and I wanted no part of it. I was obviously confused because I felt like I didn’t do anything wrong. I kept trying to get him to let me go, but he wouldn’t. The two friends who witnessed the event say Davis was “throwing me around like I was a rag doll.” In fact, two random people who were there that night reached out to me through Facebook and told me similar stories.

My Arrest

Barry Davis, Jr.

Other than question the situation, I cooperated with Davis. But during the process of trying to get me outside, I was thrown into a railing and then I hit the ground. That’s why in my mug shot, my face is all cut and bruised.

At that point, I was placed into handcuffs and brought to a patrol car. That night, I was actually with an off-duty deputy who is married to a co-worker. He tried talking to Davis to get him to release me, but Davis wouldn’t. He insisted that I assaulted him and said I was going to jail.

Well, I did go to jail. It was a place I never thought I’d be other than when I covered stories there. I was booked, fingerprinted and then had my mug shot taken. For the next several hours, I slept off the alcohol in a cell.

When I was released, a close friend of mine came to pick me up. She noticed that the dress shirt I was wearing had been torn to shreds. Clearly the arrest was so aggressive that during the process, the shirt ripped several times.

Obviously, I was suspended from work. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I mean, I was still confused how the whole thing happened. Thankfully, my News Director and General Manager supported me 100%. They believed my story. In my opinion, the deputy used excessive force in a situation it wasn’t needed in. Just take a look at these pictures taken the day after my arrest:

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The next few weeks I had to spend off-the-air because I needed time for my wounds to heal. Both physically and emotionally. I issued apologies and even went to counseling, per recommendation from my managers. I also sat down with Sheriff Richard Roundtree to personally apologize to him. I asked him to send my apology to Deputy Davis. Of course, I cover a lot of crime stories so I didn’t want my arrest to affect my relationship with the sheriff’s office.

Then it was time to go to court. My attorney said the Solicitor General was willing to throw out the case, however, the Judge wouldn’t. He instead asked that I go through pre-trial intervention to have my case dismissed. That basically means I had to have good behavior for about two months to remove the arrest from my record. Well, I obeyed and now my background is squeaky clean again, other than when someone does a Google search about me.

His Arrest

I say this because I believe it’s important to not only my story, but others who have dealt with similar situations.

Barry Davis, Jr. is no longer a deputy. Months after my arrest, he was demoted to jailer and then eventually, he resigned. My friends within the sheriff’s office tell me it’s because he kept making a lot of mistakes.

More than two years after my arrest on June 17th, 2017, I got a random Facebook message from a guy saying to give him a call because it was about former Deputy Barry Davis, Jr.

Barry Davis, Jr.

I called him and to my surprise, the guy told me Davis had been arrested in Columbia County.

The guy on the other end of the call said he got into an argument with Davis at a public park in Evans. The guy says he and his family were trying to set up a kid’s birthday party at a pavilion when he and Davis started having words over the space there.

He says the two argued and then it turned physical. During the fight, he says Davis pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. This all happening as there were dozens of parents and children around. The victim says Davis’ knife did cut his hand a bit.

Davis was arrested and charged with Battery because the deputy couldn’t find proof that a knife was used, however, there are witnesses who say otherwise. The victim tells me the District Attorney is pushing for a felony charge in this case because of the knife.

Life Lessons and the Continuing Struggle

I had too much to drink on December 12th, 2014. I should have just let somebody drive me home after the Christmas Party. It’s inexcusable for me to get that drunk. It was a mistake, but guess what? I’m only human.

During the days after my arrest, a lot of viewers said a lot of negative things about me. “You’re an alcoholic!” “You’re an idiot!” “You’re a piece of trash!” “You should be fired!”

It was tough for me to not answer them back.

I’ll tell you here, right now that I don’t think I’m an alcoholic. I don’t have to drink. In fact, sometimes I go days/weeks without drinking. But I will admit, I do have a problem. In social situations, it can be difficult for me to know when I’ve hit my limit. It’s more of a compulsive behavior than an addictive one.

The compulsions are something I continue to deal with, however, I’ve learned many great lessons thanks to my family and my amazing friends. My friends were so supportive of me during the days and weeks after my arrest. Many of them replied to the negative comments and posts about me. One even stopped by my house in the middle of the night to deliver me comfort food and groceries. They are all simply amazing.

The arrest has affected me a lot since then. Sometime in 2015, I started having panic attacks. I even had one on-the-air as I was anchoring the 6:00 p.m. news on the weekend. I had to toss to our meteorologist so I could deal with it. At the time, I didn’t know they were panic attacks, but thanks to some co-workers who have dealt with them before, I was able to find out exactly what was happening and get some help. The panic attacks are no longer an issue for me.

Friday, December 12th, 2014 was a learning experience. That day also shaped me into the man I am today. I hear from others all the time, “you’ve changed for the better.” My boss even says I’m “not the same young boy who came to Augusta in 2012.” I’m now a 31-year-old Weekend Anchor for WJBF. Someone with a bright future. Hopefully one day I’ll be anchoring the evening news at a national network.

My arrest will not hold me back from my dreams.