A fight inside Kid Rock's Big Honky Tonk on Lower Broadway turned into something stranger than a typical bar brawl early Sunday morning, after Metro Nashville police say a 52-year-old man grabbed an officer's body camera off the floor and stuffed it into his bag while officers were still breaking up the melee. The camera's telltale red light reportedly gave him away almost immediately.
Camera Dropped Mid-Fight, Then Vanished
According to WKRN News 2, Metro Nashville police officers were in the middle of breaking up an active fight inside the massive honky-tonk on Lower Broadway when an officer's body camera fell to the floor during the chaos. Court documents cited by the station identify the man as Jerel Hughes, who allegedly picked the camera up off the ground and placed it into his own bag rather than returning it to officers nearby.
Officers soon located the missing equipment, according to arrest documents cited by the station, after noticing it was visible glowing red through the fabric of Hughes' bag. That status light isn't a coincidence — Motorola's V700 body camera, the model used by Metro police, features LTE connectivity and continuous buffering that keeps visible indicator lights active during operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The same camera system is designed to integrate with vehicle-mounted cameras and centralized evidence platforms, according to MCA Mobile Video Solutions, meaning the hardware carries evidentiary value well beyond its sticker price.
Felony Charge Hinges on a Thin Dollar-Figure Line
Hughes was charged with felony theft of property over $1,000, per the station's report, and had his bond set at $2,500. Metro Nashville purchased its body cameras at a discounted rate of $650 per unit under its latest contract with WatchGuard, Inc., the same report notes — a figure that is $350 below the $1,000 threshold separating a misdemeanor from a felony under Tennessee law.
Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-14-105, theft of property valued between $1,000 and $2,500 is graded as a Class E felony carrying a statutory penalty of one to six years in prison and fines up to $3,000, according to Justia. Had the camera's value been assessed at $1,000 or less, the charge would instead fall under a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 11 months and 29 days in jail, per N. Cate Law. That $1,000 line often becomes the central battleground in cases like this one, where equipment valuation can mean the difference between a misdemeanor record and a felony conviction.
Inside One of Broadway's Busiest Venues
The brawl unfolded inside Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock 'n' Roll Steakhouse, a five-story venue at 221 Broadway near 3rd Avenue with four stages, six bars, and capacity for nearly 2,000 patrons, according to the venue's own site. The $20 million bar opened in late 2018 as a partnership between musician Kid Rock and Nashville venue owners Steve Smith and Al Ross, according to Country Rebel.
Metro Nashville Police maintain a specialized Entertainment District Unit within the Central Precinct specifically to patrol Lower Broadway's nightlife venues, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department, with the Central Precinct and that unit commanded by Precinct Commander Ricky Bearden. The department officially rolled out body-worn cameras department-wide in July 2020 after years of budget delays and a renegotiated contract with vendor WatchGuard, the parent company of Motorola, according to historical reporting from WPLN News.
The Incident on Broadway
The body-camera theft unfolded on Lower Broadway, Nashville's entertainment corridor.
