TOO YOUNG TO DIE AND TOO OLD TO TAKE A BUTT WHOOPING

In the 13 years that I worked at Stones River Mall I only had violent physical contact with two people. In both cases I was trying to help a police officer restrain someone that they were trying to arrest. There were many times that I felt physically threatened  but everything turned out good in the end. I never liked the fact that we were unarmed working in a mall but mall management didn't want the liability of having armed security officers. I hate the gun free zone signs that are posted in malls and other business establishments. They are just an open invitation for a bad guy to shoot the place up. Buford Tune, a career Metro Nashville police officer and owner of APP's, Academy of Personal Protection once told me that there were more security officers killed in the line of duty each year than police officers. A friend that was in my guard unit for many years was working armed security in Antioch a few years ago when he and his partner was shot by a disgruntled former employee. He was shot in his knee and trigger finger and his partner was shot in the chest. Luckily both survived. 

 In spite of the dangers unarmed security officers choose to assume the risks in order to work. While working at the mall I was involved in one armed robbery and one attempted armed robbery. On many occasions I was threatened with physical violence and cursed at on a fairly regular basis. I was called a racist more times than I can count. Being disrespected came with the job. I was regularly referred to as Paul Blart, Barney Fife, and Rent A Cop. After one guy called me Paul Blart I asked him if he had ever seen the movie. Before he could answer I said if you had seen the movie you would know that Paul Blart ended up being the hero and he won the pretty girl in the end. Even he got a laugh out of that. I have always hated confrontation but I had to get over my fear of that once I agreed to work at the mall. When I would interview people for security jobs I would always ask if they were afraid of confrontation. No matter how courteous or professional you are in approaching people there is always going to be the jerks. In spite of this many officers were afraid of confrontation and they seem to avoid it at all costs. One female  officer told me that she put in her two week notice because she felt like she was working in the Wild Wild West.

I began working at the mall in June 2010. After I had only been working there a few days I was about to eat lunch in the food court. A young man walked up to me and said that he had just been robbed at gunpoint in the men's restroom. He pointed at two black males walking toward the food court exit saying that they were the ones who had robbed him. Searching for a place to set down my food the Styrofoam plate cracked open and my food spilled all over the floor. I took one step to run after the suspects when I slipped on the food. My right knee slammed down into the concrete floor. Writhing in pain it took me a minute to get back on my feet. I called the officer working with me on the radio and told her to call 911. Limping toward the food court doors I was unable to get a visual on the perps because they either had a get away driver or they had left on foot. By the time I reached the parking lot MPD already had the mall surrounded. To my knowledge these guys were never caught. The victim was robbed of five dollars and a cellphone. I thanked God that I didn't have to use the restroom before eating because if I had entered the restroom in uniform during a robbery I might have been shot. A year later I began having trouble with my knee because I had a torn meniscus and I had to have surgery on it. 

 On another occasion I was on foot patrol when I got a call from a shoe store in the mall. The clerk said that a pistol fell out of a customers waist band in the store. He picked it up and along with his partner they left the store in a hurry. She said that they were headed in the direction of the food court and they were described as 2 white males. Thinking that they had probably left the mall I was walking toward the shoe store to talk to the clerk when I saw 2 men answering their description walking back into the shoe store. I called 911 to report their suspicious behavior and the fact that they were carrying a concealed weapon in the mall. The 911 operator kept me on the line and I gave her a running account of their movements. From a safe distance I saw them leave the shoe store and walk through numerous other stores. They weren't buying anything just looking around. After what seemed like an interminable period of time I kept hoping the police would finally show up. The suspects walked back through the food court and toward the entrance of Books-A-Million next to the food court. Just as I thought they were going to get away police rushed in from everywhere. The men were detained and it was discovered that they were casing stores to decide which one they wanted to rob. After dropping the gun in the shoe store they gave the gun to their get away driver in the parking lot. All 3 men were arrested and I heard that the driver resisted arrest. Many criminals are just plain dumb. If they had left the mall after dropping the gun they probably wouldn't have been arrested. 

One weekend I drove to Tampa Florida for an America's Got Talent singing audition. The officer who worked for me that Saturday got a disturbance call to Chuckee Cheese because people were fighting. A group of skinheads or Neo Nazis were having a birthday party and they were seated next to a black family also having a birthday party. I don't know who started the fight but several people were arrested by police from both families. The two birthday parties were allowed to continue in spite of the fight and our officer had to stay in the restaurant just to keep the peace. At closing time, thinking that everything was okay, he left and sat down in center court in order to catch up on his paperwork. Just then a woman started banging on the main entrance doors next to Chuckee Cheese trying to get his attention. When he  reached the doors he discovered that four men were about to fight in the parking lot. He first called the police while at the same time telling them to leave. Travis said that there were two large black men facing off against two white men with Swastika tattoos on their necks. He told me that the two black men were cool about everything and left but the two white men began to verbally assault him by calling him an N lover. About that time one of the men took a swing at Travis and unfortunately for him he missed. Travis knocked the man out cold knocking out three of his teeth. About that time MPD arrived on scene. As the friend of the unconscious man was putting him in the passenger seat of their car a police officer pointed at his teeth and told them "don't forget these". 

For a while Chuckee Cheese was a pretty wild place. You wouldn't think that a restaurant that caters to children would generate so many problems but the problems were usually domestic situations. An ex boyfriend or husband that wasn't invited might show up and cause problems. Then again we had some weird situations. Many times, especially on a Saturday the restaurant would be so packed that it was hard to walk without bumping into people. On one occasion a lady was carrying a baby in an infant seat. Completely by accident she ran into a little boy with the seat and knocked him down. The mother of the child that was knocked down began pummeling the woman carrying the baby. Her boyfriend joined in  and broke the woman's nose. As the lady with the baby was being attacked by these two thugs my niece, who was working at Chuckee Cheese, and who witnessed the attack, grabbed the baby out of the woman's hand so it wouldn't be injured. The attackers were arrested and carried off to jail. 

One night I was called to Chuckee Cheese because a customer was reporting that his cellphone had been stolen. When I arrived on scene the manager told me that the thief was still in the restaurant and that he thought it was a small child who had taken the phone and an older child had encouraged her to steal it. He took me into the video room to watch footage of the theft. On the video there was a small child and an adult female standing near the table of the man who owned the cellphone. He was seated at the table alone but when he got up to check on his children his back was turned for a moment. The adult nudged the little girl and pointed toward the man's cellphone. The little girl grabbed the phone and they both walked out of frame. Just then an employee came in and told me that if I wanted to catch the suspects I had better hurry because they were leaving the restaurant. By the time I caught up with them they were standing near the front entrance of the restaurant outside with a large group of people. I walked over to an adult female and small female child of about four or five. The adult was the child's mother instead of her sister. Politely I told the woman that a customer claimed that her child had taken his cellphone. She then leaned over and asked the little girl if she had the man's phone. The little girl began crying and pitifully replied " mommy you told me to". I was livid when I heard this and it was all I could do to keep my composure. I told the woman that this was child abuse and I was calling the police.

  As I was calling the police the crowd was acting hostile. I called for back-up and told the rest of the crowd to stand back. It was a little nerve racking until the police arrived. After they investigated and decided that the woman was guilty they cuffed her and took her off to jail. Just about then I noticed a middle aged black male berating the owner of the phone for calling security. I walked over to explain to him that the man was perfectly in his rights to call us. I said sir trying to get his attention and with a dismissive tone he waved me away saying I am not talking to you. That was exactly the wrong thing to say because I hate to be ignored and disrespected. I said "oh but I am talking to you and you need to leave mall property right now". He said that he wasn't leaving because he had a 1st Amendment right of free speech. A female MPD officer was doing her paperwork just a few feet behind me and she heard every word. Suddenly she walked in front of me and told the man "you heard him, you need to leave". The man said that I was racist but she cut him off saying that it didn't have anything to do with race. She told him to leave or he would be arrested for trespassing. I loved this officer because she always had our backs.

One night in 2013 I got a call from an outdoor store called Binks in what we called the Lifestyle area of the mall. The manager said that a woman carrying a bunch of shopping bags had stolen several children's jackets from the store. I called our on duty police officer and we arrived on scene almost simultaneously. The manager of Binks met us outside of  Binks near the Versona entrance which was the next store over. He said that the woman was inside Versona. All three of us entered the store and before anyone could say anything the woman began shouting at us from across the store that she didn't do anything. We approached her and the store manager asked to look in her bags for the jackets she stole. She was carrying at least four or five shopping bags Loudly protesting she sat the bags on the floor and was quickly opening and closing the bags so fast that it was difficult to see what was in them. The police officer told her to walk outside so we could talk. When we got outside the manager wanted to look in her bags again. She tried the same routine again of quickly opening and closing the bags but this time the Binks manager reached in a bag and pulled out one of the stolen jackets. 

 The police officer now had probable cause to arrest her. After telling her to turn around he tried to handcuff her but the woman violently resisted. They began fighting on the sidewalk and eventually ended up between two parked cars. She was kicking the officer in the groin while he was calling for back-up on his police radio. The officer was very large and had little room to maneuver. He was breathing hard and in great difficulty. I was afraid she might get away before help could arrive. Suddenly she turned her back to me and I grabbed her around the waste in a big bear hug. Unable to move her arms the officer was finally able to get the handcuffs on her. By this time numerous police officers were on the scene and I let go of her. The officer thanked me for my help and I felt good about what I had done but I really thought that I would be in trouble. Management always warned us not to get physically involved in any altercation unless we were defending ourselves. We had a new security company, however; and to my surprise I was awarded a certificate commending my actions that night. We confiscated a booster bag from her. A booster bag is a bag made of duct tape. The thief would set the booster bag down inside of a regular bag. Any stolen items placed in the booster bag would not set off the sensors when the thieves left the store.

I can't remember when this happened, maybe 2014 or 15 but I got a call that a man was challenging customers to fight in center court. Usually when I got a call  like this I knew that the perp was either drinking or high on something. This was on a Saturday and I was working with a female officer and a male officer named Jerry. I can't remember the female officers name. We scoured the mall looking for this him but we couldn't find him. The female officer was on mobile patrol and finally spotted him over by Sears. I called her on the radio and told her to meet me at the rear entrance of the food court. When she pulled up I jumped into the passenger seat and told her to drive around the east end of Sears. As we were driving around to that entrance we saw a man running from the store with a group of men running after him toward the Sears automotive side. Unknown to us at the time the reason the perp was running was because he had been in a fistfight with a customer in the foyer of the store entrance. The perp approached an elderly man and began harassing him. Another man came to his defense and threatened to call 911 with his cellphone in hand. The perp slapped the phone out of the man's hand and with a swift uppercut he knocked the perp on his butt. He then jumped on top of him. The perp was able to get away from this man and he ran out the door as we were driving by. 

We followed the crowd over to where they had the him cornered outside of Sears Automotive.. I called 911 and was describing the perp to the operator. He was wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans. When I said blue shirt the perp took it off threw it on the ground. We later discovered that the man was 19 years old, 6'3" and weighed 220 lbs. He was also very muscular. The whole time that I was talking to the operator he was getting in my face and threatening me. He was saying that he was going to kill me and he would kill my family. The guy was either drinking or high on drugs but I believe it was drugs because I didn't smell alcohol on him. He also said the same thing to the the store employees who had chased him from the store. The funny thing was that he treated our female officer much differently. She was very attractive and he would smile and say "I like you. Your pretty", 

All at once the perp took off running. He ran back into the mall through the rear entrance of the food court. By this time Jerry had arrived on scene and I told him to stay with me. I told the female officer to follow the perp. Jerry and I walked around to the front of Books A Million and entered through the corridor behind the restaurants in the food court. Unknown to us the female officer encountered our police officer who was coming on duty. After telling him what was going on she followed the police officer who had drawn his gun through the food court. They entered the corridor behind the restaurants which was the corridor we were about to enter but from the opposite direction. As the officer was clearing the corridor the perp jumped from his hiding place and rushed the police officer screaming "kill me bitch" "kill me bitch" over and over. The police officer didn't want to kill him and was slowly retreating with the man's chest pressed up against the muzzle of his pistol. The perp to this point had not shown a weapon of any kind. 

 It was at this moment that Jerry and I entered the corridor distracting the perp from the police officer. He turned and ran right toward me. As he and I were about to make contact I shouted "dude you better back off" . All at once he veered away from me and shoved Jerry against the wall. Jerry and the man fell up against the wall struggling with each other. Just then the police officer grabbed the man from behind. Assessing the situation I then placed my leg in front of the perps and was able to trip him up enough that he lost his balance and all of us came crashing down on the floor in a heap. Unknown to me the female officer had been on the phone with 911 from the start of this last episode but the police were having a difficult time locating where we were. At first they showed up at our outside restaurants until the she was able to run outside and get their attention. Suddenly about 10 police officers burst through the side corridor entrance and jumped in on top of us. It took several officers to cuff this guy and I was told that they had to use a restraint chair on him after he arrived at the jail. I had an adrenaline high for several hours after this. My officers had performed very well and we acted as a team. I was very proud of them but for some reason I couldn't get the company to recognize their actions. This was the most intense situation I had ever experienced at the mall but I told my boss that I didn't care about myself getting an award. I just wanted them to be recognized but it was no use. For whatever reason I think he had a personal dislike for these officers.

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During the time that I worked at the mall many people tried to pass fake money on a fairly regular basis. Many times they would operate in teams. A driver would drop them off and when they were ready to leave pick them up. On one occasion I was following a counterfeiter and he became aware that I was following him. I called the police but these people were hard to catch because they were usually gone before the police were able to get on scene. The man went into a restroom where he probably flushed the fake bills he had down the toilet. Regardless, I followed from a safe distance and I noticed that he appeared to be trying to call someone on his phone. It took a long while for the police to arrive and I kept wondering why this guy was still on our property. When the police finally arrived they arrested him on an outstanding warrant but he had rid himself of any fake money that he had. I chuckled when I found out that the reason he didn't leave the mall was because his phone had died and he couldn't contact his ride.

On another occasion we had a counterfeiter working the mall. I wasn't working that night but Officers Jimmy Cutrone and Charles Henry were. We also had a MPD officer working with us. Henry, Cutrone and the officer cornered him in Hibbitts Sports where he tried to escape. Henry and Cutone were able to block his escape and restrain him long enough for the officer to get handcuffs on him. It was later discovered that this man was wanted in three states for the crime of counterfeiting. On a separate occasion Henry also assisted an MPD officer in physically restraining a shoplifter who was resisting arrest near Electronic Express. Both officers received recognition for their good work. 

One Saturday we were very short handed and I was working by myself on a Saturday which was usually our busiest and craziest day of the week. I got a call from Hibbits Sports that they had a disruptive customer in the store. When I arrived in the store there was a woman screaming profanities at a female store manager. She had the manager backed up against the wall. I told the woman to settle down and if she didn't she would have to leave. She immediately turned on me getting up in my face screaming profanities at me. The way she was acting it almost as if she was trying to get me to overreact. The woman kept flinging her hands at me and calling me a pussy. I told her to get out of my face. Eventually we worked our way from Hibbitt's to the outside of J.C. Penny's where she threatened to shoot me at least three times. She said "I am going to pop you I got something in my car. I'm going to pop you." She was screaming and flailing her hands at me the entire time. I later timed the whole encounter on my body camera at 11 minutes until the police arrived but it felt like 11 hours. I was so focused on keeping her away from me that I didn't realize until after I watched the body camera footage that she had threatened me. If I had realized that at the time I would have had her arrested. These are just a few of the many incidents I dealt with while working at the mall.