A 27-year-old man is facing multiple charges, including two counts of assaulting a law-enforcement officer, after police say he resisted arrest outside a downtown Nashville restaurant and twisted an officer's pinky finger in the struggle. He's being held on a $10,100 bond, according to WKRN.
According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, officers were dispatched to Hand Cut Chophouse on the 700 block of Demonbreun Street after receiving reports of a person trespassing and harassing people as they entered and left the restaurant. Police identified the man at the scene as Lachlan Jones, per the same account.
Restaurant staff reportedly told officers that Jones reached toward patrons and attempted to touch them, the report notes. When officers moved to handcuff him and told him to put his hands behind his back, Jones allegedly pulled away forcibly after tensing his arms, according to police.
Struggle Escalates During Handcuffing Attempt
Police allege that as officers tried to restrain him, Jones pulled an officer's left pinky finger in a direction it was not supposed to bend. He later grabbed officers' vest equipment and another officer's leg in an effort to avoid being handcuffed, WKRN reported.
The encounter resulted in a lengthy list of charges against Jones, including two separate counts of assault on a law-enforcement officer — one for causing bodily injury and another for offensive or provocative contact. He also faces charges of resisting arrest, misdemeanor evading, criminal trespassing, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct, as reported by WKRN.
Tennessee law treats knowingly causing bodily injury to an officer—or knowingly making contact a reasonable person would find extremely offensive or provocative—as assault against a law-enforcement officer. For incidents on or after July 1, 2026, the offense is a Class E felony carrying a mandatory $10,000 fine and at least 60 days in jail; those penalties do not establish guilt in Jones’s case. The statute’s definition of assault against an officer and the 2026 law changing its penalties set out the legal framework.
Drug Charges Added to the Case
Police reportedly found a green leafy substance rolled into a joint that appeared to be marijuana, along with rolling papers, in Jones's possession, adding possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia to the list of charges he now faces, per the same account.
Jones remains held on a $10,100 bond following the arrest. The gaps in the public record — including details of the charging paperwork and how the case will ultimately be resolved in court — have not been independently verified.
The arrest comes against a backdrop of declining reported crime in Nashville, though citywide trends do not determine what happened in any individual case. In 2025, violent offenses fell nearly 14% from 2024, while property-crime reports dropped nearly 12%, based on Metro Nashville Police Department data. The district attorney’s summary of the annual figures notes that the totals cover broad categories of offenses, not specifically incidents involving restaurant trespassing or alleged assaults on officers.
