A cook at Zachary’s was violently assaulted in broad daylight Monday, according to Columbus Police Department Public Information Officer Johannah Owusu. The assault may have ties to an altercation over the weekend during an event in Trotter Convention Center.
Police responded to the parking lot behind the Mitchell, McNutt and Sams law firm, which is adjacent to the restaurant, at 12:36 p.m. for a report of an assault, Owusu said.
The victim told officers he was sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot when a cream or white SUV driven by a white female pulled up behind him, Owusu said. Three white men got out of the SUV, pulled the victim from his vehicle and attacked him.
The victim told police he thought he recognized one of his assailants from a brawl at an amateur fight held at the Trotter Saturday evening, Owusu said. He said he had intervened in a fight among audience members, putting one man in a headlock to restrain him, and he thought one of his Monday attackers had bruises around his neck.
A man and woman were arrested Saturday night after allegedly starting the fight in the stands involving six spectators at the Possum Town Throwdown. Mayor Keith Gaskin ultimately ordered the event to shut down early.
Owusu said she didn’t know at this point if the assault was related because the investigation is ongoing. No one has been arrested for Monday’s attack.
The victim drove himself to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, she said, but his nose was broken.
Owusu said police weren’t sure yet how many vehicles were involved.
“The victim only saw one vehicle,” she said. “We had an officer look at surveillance video and he saw two vehicles, but we don’t know if the second vehicle was related yet or not.”
Doug Pellum, who owns Zachary’s, confirmed to The Dispatch Tuesday afternoon that the victim is a cook at his restaurant. Pellum said he wasn’t sure of the victim’s condition other than he had been released from the hospital.
Pellum said he had closed his business early Saturday night because of the fight at the Trotter.
“You’ve got a guy bleeding on the street and customers running to the windows to watch,” he said. “Then when you have six or eight cop cars downtown, it distracts people from coming to the restaurant. We just shut the doors.”
“Anytime something like this happens, it’s not a good look for downtown,” Pellum added.
Columbus Police Chief Joseph Daughtry stressed downtown is still safe.
“We want people to know that downtown is still a safe place,” Daughtry said. “We have increased patrol down in that area. We want people to know this is an ongoing dispute (between the victim and his attackers). It’s not a random thing. They targeted him.”
Anyone with knowledge of this case is asked to call Golden Triangle Crimestopper at (800) 530-7151, or use the P3 smartphone app. Tips remain anonymous and if they lead to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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