FILE - Chris Young performs at the 56th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Friday April 16, 2021 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. A district attorney in Tennessee has dropped charges against Young, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, stemming from an encounter with Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents who were doing compliance checks. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A district attorney in Tennessee has dropped charges against country singer Chris Young stemming from an encounter with Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents who were doing compliance checks.
In a statement released Friday, Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said charges against Young were dismissed “after a review of all the evidence.”
Young was arrested Monday night and charged with assaulting an officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, news outlets reported, citing arrest affidavits.
The agents were checking the Tin Roof bar in Nashville when they asked to see Young’s identification, the arrest affidavit said. Young then began questioning and video recording the agents.
He and others followed the agents into a neighboring bar called the Dawg House, the affidavit said. As the agents were leaving that bar, Young put his hands out to stop them and struck one agent on the shoulder, according to the affidavit. That agent then pushed the singer to create distance between them, the affidavit said.
When another agent approached Young, the singer stepped back and declined to follow orders, so he was arrested, the affidavit said. While agents were attempting to leave, multiple people with Young started following them, creating a hostile situation, the affidavit said.
Young’s attorney, Bill Ramsey, had said in a statement after the arrest that the singer should never have been arrested and that the agents should “apologize for the physical, emotional and professional harm done towards my client.”
In a later statement after the charges were dropped, Ramsey said he and Young “are gratified with the DA’s decision clearing him of the charges and any wrongdoing.”
Young is known for songs that include “Tomorrow” and “Getting You Home.”
