Roscoe Allen, who raised security concerns at City Hall when he referenced a 9mm handgun during a heated discussion with city commissioner Mike Gowen in a city commission meeting on Oct. 22, 2018, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault early Sunday morning for allegedly pulling a gun on another person during an argument at a local nightclub.
While there has been no official statement released regarding Allen’s arrest, DouglasNow.com has learned that the argument took place at the Time Out Sports Bar in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 24, 2019. After getting into a verbal disagreement with another patron, Allen allegedly went to his vehicle and returned with a handgun. The other party disarmed Allen before he fired any shots, according to sources. Allen was subsequently arrested and charged with aggravated assault.
In the fall, Allen attended several city commission meetings in an effort to be reimbursed a significant sum of money he had to pay after a federal judge threw out a discrimination suit Allen filed against the city in the late 1990s. Allen’s appearances before the commission invariably ended up in acrimonious exchanges with Mayor Tony Paulk and some city commissioners.
On Oct. 22, 2018, Allen and Commissioner Gowen had one such exchange. During their discussion, Allen, who appeared quite upset, referenced having a 9mm for Gowen. Many people at the meeting, including Commissioner Gowen, took that at as a threat – to the point that Allen’s comments were on the work session agenda at the Nov. 13, 2018 meeting. The mayor and commission discussed security concerns in the wake of Allen’s comments.
At the next commission meeting, which took place on Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, Allen returned, upset again that he had been the topic of conversation in the previous meeting and because his comments had been reported in local media outlets (though his name was never mentioned). At the Nov. 26 meeting, Allen admitted to referencing a 9mm but said it was a “figure of speech” and was not a threat.
Following his arrest Sunday, Allen was booked into the Coffee County Jail where he later posted bond and was released.
A portion of Allen’s comments from the Nov. 26 meeting can be seen in the video below, including the segment where he admits to mentioning a 9mm during his exchange with Commissioner Gowen.