City Says Isaiah Buggs Shoved Tuscaloosa Police Chief Amid List of Citations

An ongoing conflict brewing between the city of Tuscaloosa and former Alabama football player Isaiah Buggs was brought further to light Thursday with the release of documents detailing his seven pending cases in municipal court here - including one allegation that the current Kansas City Chief physically shoved TPD's chief of police last month.

For those catching up, news broke Wednesday that Buggs was wanted in the city of Tuscaloosa on two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty after he allegedly abandoned two dogs at a residence he rented here. The animals were taken from the property after being left outside in cages for at least 10 days, and one has since been euthanized.

Buggs turned himself in at the Tuscaloosa County Jail Thursday and has since bonded out, and denied the charges against him in a statement that mentioned a pre-existing relationship with police in Tuscaloosa, where the football star owns and operates Kings Hookak Lounge on Greensboro Avenue.

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The Tuscaloosa Thread filed a records request with the city for any documents related to their interactions with Buggs in the past, and they provided files for seven different municipal cases against Buggs, not counting the two new animal cruelty charges.

The city accuses Buggs of menacing, saying he and his brother pulled guns on a woman who may have rolled her eyes at them at the hookah lounge on April 23rd, 2024.

They have a citation saying Buggs did not renew his business license in 2024 and is operating the hookah lounge without one.

There's an April 2022 citation accusing Buggs of overcrowding the hookah lounge with more than 275 customers in a building rated for less than 100, and another overcrowding case from April 14th, 2024 - before dawn on the Sunday following A-Day at Alabama.

That's when Buggs is accused of his scuffle with Tuscaloosa Police Chief Brent Blankley.

"On 04/14/2024 [...] several other Officers responded out to 3801 Greensboro Ave (King's Hookah Lounge) during patrols due to an overcrowded parking lot. Officers approached the door of the business and observed a large group of people inside.
The business has a maximum fire capacity of 83 and 283 individuals were counted inside at once," a TPD officer said in the complaint obtained by the Thread. "When the building was cleared out, Officers made contact with the owner of the business, Isaiah Buggs (Suspect), who was given a City Cite for having an overcrowded building."

"While waiting for verification of the status of paperwork at headquarters, Buggs became irate that Officers were standing by with him and was pacing back and forth raising his voice and making statements such as 'These boys better not touch me' and 'I'm not going in handcuffs,'" the document continues. "Buggs exited the business through the front door away from Officers and walked right towards 38th St. Officers
advised Buggs that he was not free to go. Chief Blankley was on scene at that time and attempted to talk Buggs back into the buisness, and when Chief placed a hand on Buggs' shoulder to escort him back inside, Buggs turned around and shoved Chief
Blankley into several Officers."

Police say "a scuffle ensued and it took several Officers to place Buggs into handcuffs due to his lack of cooperation. Neither Buggs nor any Officers were injured during the incident."

After that predawn incident, Buggs was jailed on writs for overcrowding and one for allowing trash to accumulate by the lounge and was also charged with resisting arrest. He was booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail back in April and released on a combined $1,600 bond.

The city also cited Buggs in April for allegedly being four months behind on his sales tax and liquor lax payments for his hookah lounge.

All this before his latest booking on the animal cruelty charges.

In his Thursday statement, Buggs accused leaders of "a concerted effort by the City of Tuscaloosa and its Police Department to besmirch Mr. Buggs' name and reputation as part of an ongoing subservice campaign to force the close of his local business Kings Hookah Lounge."

His statement said he had been previously threatened with the documents that were released to the Thread on Thursday.

"These efforts are not new as Mr. Buggs was arrested at his business on misdemeanor charges on two separate occasions in the past two months, but each time no public record was made of these arrests. Rather, the City used the threat of pursuing and publicizing both the allegations filed today and these arrests as leverage against Mr. Buggs by offering to drop and not pursue them in exchange for his voluntary surrender of his business license. Mr. Buggs declined the City's offer as he has serious concerns about the City's and Police Department's motivation for deciding to target his business, which he plans to bring to light as part of his defense of the allegations and charges filed against him and his reputation and business."

For more on this case as it develops, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.