Alachua man arrested after threatening customers and injuring employee at Salty Dog Saloon

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Brandon Harry Driggers, 29, of Alachua, was arrested last night and charged with simple battery, resisting arrest without violence, and disorderly conduct in an establishment.

At about 10:10 p.m. Friday night, several customers at the Salty Dog Saloon, 1712 W. University Avenue, complained that Driggers was trying to fight other customers. Driggers was removed from the bar and was told he couldn’t go back inside and that his tab had been paid. Driggers then allegedly tried to fight people who were outside the bar, waiting to enter.

Driggers allegedly continued to shove the employee who had removed him from the bar. That man grabbed Driggers by his wrists to defend himself and suffered abrasions and bruises in the ensuing struggle. When Gainesville Police Department officers arrived, they found Driggers held on the ground by the employee and two off-duty law enforcement officers. Driggers was allegedly spitting and calling the officers racial epithets. Driggers reportedly continued to physically resist the officers while he was being placed in the back of the patrol car.

The officer reported that while being transported to the jail, Driggers banged his head repeatedly against the interior of the car and kicked the windows. He also allegedly continued to threaten to fight the officer.

Driggers has been adjudicated guilty in eight local cases going back to 2018, and he is wanted in the states of Georgia and Ohio for larceny and auto theft. He was last convicted for a 2020 incident on charges of battery on an officer, disorderly intoxication, and trespassing. He was sentenced to 286 days in jail with credit for 286 days time served in January of 2021. A sworn complaint in January 2022 for property damage while he was being treated in the psychiatric unit at North Florida Regional Medical Center was dropped earlier this week.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.