VIDEO: Isaiah Buggs leaves jail, swipes WBRC camera saying ‘Don’t walk up in front of me’
TUSCALOOSA Ala. (WBRC) - Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive lineman Isaiah Buggs turned himself in to the Tuscaloosa police Thursday morning on animal cruelty charges. He bonded out a short time later.
After bonding out of the Tuscaloosa County Jail, WBRC Reporter Bryan Henry attempted to ask Buggs for a comment. Buggs put his hand on Bryan’s camera and said “Don’t walk up in front of me.”
Buggs, who is a former Alabama player, is charged with second-degree animal cruelty. Police accuse him of leaving two dogs for several days without food and water at a home on Diamond Circle in Tuscaloosa. One had to be euthanized.
Police say Buggs moved out of the home a few days earlier. Buggs denies the allegations and released a statement through his agent.
“Isaiah vehemently denies the truthfulness of the allegations and charges asserted against him today. Under no circumstance does Mr. Buggs condone the mistreatment of any animal. The dogs at issue did not belong to him and he was unaware they remained at the property in question.
Furthermore, we believe the City of Tuscaloosa’s decision to file the charges today is part of a concerted effort by the City of Tuscaloosa and its Police Department to besmirch Mr. Buggs’ name and reputation as part of an ongoing subversive campaign to force the close of his local business Kings Hookah Lounge.
These efforts are not new as Mr. Buggs was arrested at his business on misdemeanor charges on two separate occasions in the past two months, but each time no public record was made of these arrests. Rather, the City used the threat of pursuing and publicizing both the allegations filed today and these arrests as leverage against Mr. Buggs by offering to drop and not pursue them in exchange for his voluntary surrender of his business license. Mr. Buggs declined the City’s offer as he has serious concerns about the City’s and Police Department’s motivation for deciding to target his business, which he plans to bring to light as part of his defense of the allegations and charges filed against him and his reputation and business.”
Investigators say Buggs was behind over $3,100 in rent on the home and was served a notice of termination on the lease in April according to court records. Buggs denies the animal cruelty allegations against him and says the dogs do not belong to him and that he was unaware they remained at the house.
Legal analyst Roger Appell is surprised that Buggs isn’t facing felony charges given the allegations against him.
“I would have thought they would have charged him with a felony because they could always come back and reduce it to a misdemeanor. So, he’s very lucky that he’s only been charged with a misdemeanor. The range of punishment for the misdemeanor is up to 12 months and a fine,” Appell said.
Buggs also has other pending cases against him in city court where he faces allegations of menacing, resisting arrest and city code violations at his hookah lounge in Tuscaloosa. Court records show in one incident he allegedly shoved the police chief into several officers and eventually put in handcuffs after TPD responded to overcrowding at the lounge earlier this year.
Records show the shoving took place after Chief Brent Blankley attempted to talk Buggs back into the business when Blankley “placed his hand on Buggs’ shoulder to escort him back inside, Buggs turned around the shoved Chief Blankley into several officers. A scuffle ensued and it took several officers to place Buggs into handcuffs due to his lack of cooperation. Neither Buggs nor any officers were injured during the incident”.
Buggs signed a reserve/futures contract with the Chiefs on Feb. 13, 2024, after signing on the Chiefs practice squad on Jan. 4, 2024.
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