SLED investigating incident at bar
Witnesses dispute officer's account
By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

State investigators have been asked by the Gaffney Police Department chief to look into an officer's use of force during an early Sunday morning incident inside a city bar that resulted in three arrests, a bloodied carpet and a number of people choking on pepper spray.

Gaffney Police Chief John O'Donald confirmed he requested the investigation by SLED after receiving several complaints from witnesses who were inside Benna's late Saturday into Sunday morning.

Alleging in a five-page police report that he was assaulted and injured in the course of his duties, Sgt. Scott Tallent ultimately arrested three men at the Cherokee Plaza bar in Gaffney on various charges.

Several accounts by witnesses differed widely from Tallent's account in the police report, though.

Two witnesses, who asked not to be identified, said they would be willing to give their accounts to SLED. Two other witnesses declined comment, saying they already were under attorney instructions not to speak to the media until the SLED investigation was complete.

Bar owner Belinda Thompson said she would be cooperating fully with SLED's investigation but was otherwise limited in what she could say based on attorney advice.

Thompson requested and received a no trespassing order on Monday from Chief O'Donald that directed Tallent to stay away from Benna's, its parking lot, its owners and its employees, while the investigation is ongoing.

Leonard Paul Tinnin, 49, of Blacksburg, faced the most serious charge of the three arrested, being accused of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature in addition to disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. There was no number listed for him in local directories.

Eddie Leon Gilfillan, 55, of Blacksburg and David James Cobb, 32, of Gaffney, both were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Attempts to reach both men Tuesday evening were not immediately successful.

Tallent's police report claims the incident began outside the bar when a number of patrons became disruptive. He claimed Gilfillan, one of the patrons, was acting disorderly and pushed the officer. After spraying pepper spray in Gilfillan's face, the officer claimed he then was assaulted by Tinnin, who struck him in the mouth.

Despite being sprayed as well, Tinnin then allegedly tried to strike the officer again, the police report alleges.

The report said Tallent subsequently struck Tinnin in the thigh with his baton in an attempt to subdue him, but that the strike had no effect. The officer claimed Tinnin then lurched forward and grabbed his throat, forcing the officer to tackle and hold Tinnin to the ground.

Cobb later was arrested after he allegedly "squared off" against the officer and "drew back to swing" as he was attempting to get to Gilfillan, the report states. Gilfillan was in the men's room having the pepper spray washed from his face.

Two witnesses, who did not know what transpired outside the bar, said Cobb, or at least the man identified in the police report as Cobb, did not try to strike the officer.

"As far as I can remember, the other guy (Cobb) was standing at the doorway of the bathroom. Scott (Tallent) grabbed him on the shoulder and pulled him back. He (Tallent) jerked him. He (Cobb) jerked back and the guy was pushed up against the wall and arrested," one witness said. "Everybody's rubbing their eyes (from the pepper spray), trying to figure out what's going on. If somebody pulls on my shoulder, I'm going to jerk back, too."