PORTLAND, Tenn. (WKRN) -- After reportedly causing a scene inside a Portland gym last weekend, a man confronted the responding officers in the parking lot, all while carrying a baseball bat.
The situation unfolded shortly after 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, March 15. According to Portland Police Chief Jason Arnold, authorities were called to the 100 block of West Knight Street following an altercation in the Planet Fitness.
The chief told News 2 that 31-year-old Christopher Dudek was asked to leave the gym after allegedly throwing a water bottle at another customer, but he refused to leave, so law enforcement responded. Body camera footage shows police arriving and finding Dudek holding a metallic bat in the rainy parking lot.
In the video, you can hear the interaction between the officers and the Portland man, who refused to obey any commands.
Officer: "Put it down."
Dudek: "What do you want?!"
Officer: "Put it down!"
Dudek: "No, what are you trying to do?!"
Officer: "Listen, don't do this."
When asked why Dudek got a bat, Arnold said, "I don't think he ever said why. We can only guess, surmise why he would go get a baseball bat after having an argument with somebody inside. I'm sure it wasn't for any legal purpose."
Police tried repeatedly to calm Dudek down and convince him to drop the weapon, with one officer warning Dudek that he would go to jail if he didn't lower the bat.
"I didn't come at you guys! You guys are coming at me!" Dudek argued.
"Last warning: drop the bat! Drop it! You're not going to get another one!" the officer replied.
When the suspect refused to comply, the officer deployed a Taser.
"Down! Get on the ground! Get on the ground! Get on the ground!" the officer yelled as he approached Dudek -- who kept backing away and addressing police with the bat still in his hand -- before deploying the Taser. "Taser, Taser, Taser!"
Dudek dropped to the ground and the bat ended up under his torso. Authorities moved in and handcuffed Dudek, who was groaning after being hit by the Taser.
"The officers did a great job. They ordered him multiple times to drop the bat. They wanted to talk to him, figure out what's going on, and he refused and just [acted] confrontational, had the bat raised," Arnold explained. "Thankfully, he didn't charge any of the officers. This would have ended a lot different."
Dudek was charged with two counts of assault on a first responder, disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, and resisting arrest. His bond was set at $5,000 ahead of his April 1 court date.
News 2 found no priors for Dudek in either Nashville or Sumner County.
A spokesperson for Planet Fitness sent News 2 the following statement about Saturday's incident:
At Planet Fitness, the safety of our members, team members and guests are our top priority, and we do not tolerate inappropriate behavior. The franchise group alerted local authorities upon learning of the incident and have cancelled the member in question.
No additional details have been released about this situation.