![[12-29-24] Tampa Security Guard Says He Was Hit by Fleeing Customer](https://www.tampalaw.com/wp-content/uploads/12-29-24-Tampa-Security-Guard-Says-He-Was-Hit-by-Fleeing-Customer.jpg)
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa security guard said a customer who didn’t want to pay their tab hit him with their car.
It happened early Sunday morning at Johnson’s nightclub in Tampa.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, just trying to get dressed is almost unbearable,” Joseph Suggs said.
Suggs works as a security guard at the nightclub.
It was just after 2 a.m. Sunday when Suggs said, his night took a dangerous turn.
“We had a customer who had come in, and I guess he was leaving without paying his tab which was about $150-$200,” Suggs explained.
That’s when Johnson’s General Manager Lucian Teague got involved.
“I tapped on his window, and I told him ‘hey, you know, could you go ahead and settle up your debt?”‘ Teague explained. “‘If you could just park your vehicle and settle up, that’ll be that and you can leave.’”
The customer was then caught on camera hitting the gas and slamming into Suggs.
“He got a hold of my left leg, and I felt my left leg going up under the car,” Suggs explained. “I had was my right leg free, so I was able to jump up and get onto the hood.”
Teague added, “I am over there, and I’m screaming because now he’s on the hood of the car and…I’m thinking I’m about to witness something that could’ve been a lot worse.”
Tampa police said detectives with their hit and run squad are working to gather evidence and develop leads in the case, as Suggs suffers through a broken shoulder one day at a time.
“He sped away, and I was thrown off of the car and into the street which broke my shoulder,” Suggs said. “I could’ve died that night.”
“It was really a bad situation,” he continued. “Now I am in a lot of pain moving forward with a broken shoulder that’s going to take me 4 to 6 weeks to heal.”
If you have any information you think could help detectives make an arrest, you’re being asked to contact Tampa police.
Source : WFLA
(Credit : NBC News)
