The Taser-happy Atlanta mall cop who became an Internet sensation for videos showing him ejecting what he called drug dealers and criminals from a shopping center has been arrested for battery, according to reports.
Darien Long, dubbed the “Kick Ass Mall Cop”, found himself on the wrong side of the law Thursday, when he was cuffed on charges of battery after police said he tackled a patron at Metro Mall Thursday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The vigilante mall guard became a viral hit after a video showing him Tasering a trash-talking mom in front of her kids was posted to worldstarhiphop.com — a clip that has been viewed nearly 2 million times.
Atlanta police said cops were called to the mall Thursday after Long allegedly tackled the patron. Long claimed that the patron had been warned to stay out of the shopping center, but police didn’t buy it.
“The video from inside the mall clearly shows Mr. Long run up to this person from the side and tackle him to the ground,” police spokeswoman Kim Jones told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Mr. Long could not produce any documentation to back up his claim that the victim had been given a trespass warning and the video depicts Mr. Long acting as the primary aggressor.”
Long, 45, was freed today on $2,000 bail, MyFoxAtlanta reported.
As popular as the Long has become — he has his own YouTube channel — his days at Metro Mall were numbered even before his arrest. Early this week it was revealed Long will lose his job by the end of the month, a firing the guard told the Huffingtion Post was motivated by “political reasons.”
Long’s tactics have inspired applause as well as outrage, but mall vendors interviewed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said they’ll be said to see the uncompromising mall cop leave.
“Before they hired Darien, they used to rob our customers and snatch pursues,” nail-salon owner Francisca Shokane told the paper. “Now it is much better and safer. They don’t come in here and bother us anymore.”
The videos that made Long famous (WARNING: graphic language)