A man is accused of stabbing two bar employees, one in the face and another in the arm, on Saturday morning after the pair tried to remove him from a downtown Athens club, according to police.
Police responded to Toppers International Showbar on North Jackson Street around 2:10 a.m. where they found 29-year-old Jewell Clay being held down by several people just outside the venue, a police report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows.
Employees told police that Clay was being removed from the club “for an unknown reason to him” by 19-year-old Donovan Garner, who worked at the bar, the report said. Another employee, 30-year-old Michael Palla, went to assist Garner once Clay had already been escorted out.
That was when Palla witnessed Clay stab Garner in the face, the report said. Garner was taken to Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Athens-Clarke police spokesman Lt. Shaun Barnett said Tuesday.
Palla quickly tackled Clay in an attempt to take away the knife, according to the police report. Clay cut Palla’s forearm in the process, the report shows. Palla did not go to the hospital for his injury, Barnett confirmed.
As Palla wrestled Clay, he asked onlookers on the downtown street to call for police, the report said. With the help of a few bystanders, Palla was able to keep Clay down on the ground until police arrived.
Once police detained Clay and placed him in an Athens-Clake patrol car, he was able to break free and began running away from the scene, the report said. After a short chase on foot, officers were able to detain him again.
Clay is being held at Athens-Clarke County Jail. He has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of obstruction of law enforcement.
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