Video shows local sheriff, deputy involved in apparent bar brawl

WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — Video of a local sheriff involved in a bar fight is now being spread across the internet.

The video shows Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman and one of his top assistants, Maj. Damien Mercer, during a pool table dispute in Florida.

An opposition group told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas it posted the video just days after charges were dismissed.

The charges against the Walton sheriff and one of his top deputies were dismissed last week after the two completed a deferred prosecution agreement.

Within days, the group called Walton Deserves Better posted the video of the 2016 bar fight online, saying it wants the public to decide who the aggressors were in the case.

The five-minute video of the Harry’s Bar surveillance video is shot off a screen, apparently at the local police department.

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It's appears to show Chapman get into a dispute with another patron over money left on a pool table.

A few seconds later, a man in a white shirt, identified as Mercer, also appears to push a second man up against an arcade game.

Carabelle Florida police were called and charged Chapman and Mercer with battery. The charges were later changed to disorderly conduct.

In police reports filed in the case, Chapman and Mercer claimed the twin brothers they were fighting turned on them and threatened them with a crowbar once the men got outside.

On the video, you can see one of the two brothers yell back inside the bar, then Mercer and Chapman walk outside.

Chapman followed one man to the front of a parked van, while Mercer chased a second man off camera. Both lawmen returned a few seconds later.

Chapman is under investigation by the agency that certifies Georgia police officers.

Walton Deserves Better said it posted the video for people to decide for themselves if the conduct was appropriate.

Chapman told Thomas by phone last week he was embarrassed by what happened, but if he had to do it all over again, he would, given the circumstances.

Cox Media Group