Wes Martin: Tennessee cop arrests diners for YELLING while he was having coffee
It is illegal and punishable by law if you are hooting and hollering in the presence of a police officer who is trying to enjoy his coffee in the state of Tennessee. At least it seems so.
Two friends who were dining at a Waffle House learned this the hard way when they were fined $1,200 and arrested mid-meal. According to the Advocate & Democrat reports, the incident occurred at the Waffle House on Highway 411 in Madisonville. Officer Wes Martin claimed that Carlos Gaena, one of the men who was arrested, "began yelling" at the cop when the latter warned him and his friend three times about "causing a disturbance". The same officer arrested a man at the same Waffle House on public intoxication charge in July.
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MADISONVILLE: Officer Wes Martin (running for MONROE COUNTY commission) arrests a Latino man for “HOOTIN’ & HOLLERIN’” @WaffleHouse he says disturbed his coffee, then arrests the man filming it.
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) December 22, 2021
They say he was annoyed the waitress played their music: https://t.co/l7A7g22mEt pic.twitter.com/4JoVqfbSRD
The video shows Officer Wes Martin approaching the men at their table and accusing them of "causing a scene". Gaena wrote, "After a fun night with my homie we got arrested for playing some laberinto music at the Waffle House I guess he doesn't like our music." In the video, Gaena responds to the officer: "Nobody's causing a scene."
"When I can hear you all the way over there, there's a problem," Martin says. "What I'm telling you is, you can eat in peace, or you can go to jail."
The man in the video is seen questioning whether Martin has the authority to tell them to be quiet. The officer then orders Gaena to stand up, handcuffs him and leads him outside before placing him in the back of his cruiser. Gaena's friend, Rodriguez Escobar, follows them outside, and continues to film the incident. Escobar politely requests Martin, "C'mon man, we're just having a good time".
Officer Martin responds, "you were the one who was in there hootin' and' hollerin' and everything else. I stood up and shook my head at him to tell you to be quiet. And then I have to come over to tell you to be quiet again. He caused a scene inside the store... I'm sitting over here drinking my coffee, I like to it drink in peace, instead of y'all yellin' and screamin' and hollerin' and whistlin'."
Officer Martin asks Escobar who was recording the video how much he's had to drink since he could smell alcohol on him. The video then shows another officer approaching them. Martin tells the other officer that Escobar is under arrest for public intoxication as he was unsteady on his feet and had slurred speech.
Both men were charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication. Gaena says that he and his friend Escobar spent 12 hours in jail and paid $1,200 before the charges were finally dropped on them. Officer Martin is currently running for a seat on the Monroe County Commission.