WMC-TV: News, Weather, Traffic, Radar, and Sports for Memphis, TN; WMCTV.com | Mid-South man alleges off-duty deputy beat him outside IHOP

Mid-South man alleges off-duty deputy beat him outside IHOP

By Anna Marie Hartman - bio | email | Twitter | Facebook

MILLINGTON, TN (WMC-TV) - A Mid-South man claims an off-duty Tipton County Sheriff's deputy beat him outside the Millington IHOP restaurant on Halloween night.

Alan Nance says he was confronted by Deputy Steven Browder, whom he had seen before.
    
"He asked me where I've been hiding at, and I told him I hadn't been hiding anywhere," said Browder.

Nance says Browder asked him to step outside. 

"I walked outside and sat down on the bench, and before the door even shut, he had jumped on me," he said.

Nance says he sustained a head injury when Browder slammed his head against a wall and then left the scene.  

Millington police are investigating, but Chief Ray Douglas says there's not much evidence to go on. 

"You're caught in a dilemma. Here one side says one thing, one side says another thing, so what do you do?" he said. "We tried to get the video from the IHOP, but they said the camera wasn't rolling."

Browder has been paced on administrative leave until the case is resolved.

Tipton County Sheriff Pancho Chumley issued a statement saying, "We hold our employees to a higher standard as public servants for Tipton County, while on-duty and on their personal time."

Nance wants to press charges, but the sheriff says a judge could decide both men are at fault. 

"There's a possibility that a warrant could be issued against each other - by each other - so that each of them get warrants for each other. And if that happens, both will be arrested," Chumley said.

The alleged beatdown over breakfast could land both men behind bars.   

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