A fight near 8 Seconds in downtown Gainesville early Tuesday led to three arrests and two Taserings and sent an officer to the hospital after he was hit with a concrete brick.
It's not clear what triggered the incident, which happened around 1:40 a.m. Witnesses said two men were fighting before police arrived. After one of the men allegedly involved in the initial fight was Tasered and handcuffed, another man, surrounded by six officers, was brought to the ground after being Tasered.
A woman, who declined to be identified, left and began crying, saying that she touched the man's arm and was also shocked.
The already angry crowd of about 20 people became even more agitated after this, with many of them yelling at the officers and accusing them of police brutality.
"They did not have to Taser him," said Kyle Griffin, 22, a Santa Fe College student who watched the scene unfold. "They pointed the Taser at me too, and I wasn't even part of this fight."
One of the men arrested, Justin D. Chesser, 22, was observed punching another man in the face and head multiple times, leaving a cut over the man's left eye and bruises on the left side of his face, according to a police report.
After being read his Miranda rights, Chesser told police the man "got near my girlfriend and was talking bad about my girlfriend so I whipped his ass," according to the report.
"I have to get really mad to do something like that," he told officers in the report.
Another man who was arrested, Cory A. Stephenson, 22, was Tasered after refusing to leave the scene, according to a police report.
Instead of leaving, the man turned to face officers and then pulled his arms away and struck an officer in the chest several times when police tried to handcuff him, according to the report. He also pushed the officer, the report states.
He was Tasered for five seconds in response and then Tasered for another five seconds after he refused to remove his left arm from under his body, according to the report.
The third person arrested, Camalyne Rodgers, 19, was taken into custody after she sneaked past officers and kicked Chesser, who was on the ground, until officers restrained her, according to the report.
