Security guard quits throughout TV interview about being assaulted on job
This is the wild moment an Austin security guard removes his uniform and quits on live television after his supervisor told him ‘it’s your fault’ he was assaulted on the job.
Percy Payne, a security guard was Priebe Security was working Monday night at an office building on East Sixth and Brushy when two men riding electric scooters entered the private underground parking garage around 9.30pm.
Payne believed the men were trying to steal his car and ran after them. As he attempted to detain them, he called police, but the thugs became more aggressive and started hitting and punching him – Payne is seen on video fighting back.
During his interview with a reporter from local Fox 7, Payne’s boss, whose face was concealed, told him ‘to stop talking on the job.’
She added that he was not ‘allowed to do any interviews in uniform but that he could speak as a ‘private citizen.’
In the next clip, Payne is seen standing in a t-shirt after removing his uniform, before quitting, as their dispute escalates.
His boss is heard saying loudly: ‘You touched him. I wouldn’t have touched him.’
When Payne asked, ‘Is it my fault?’ She responded, ‘Yes! Every bit of it is your fault.’
Payne is seen handing his supervisor his uniform and responding, ‘Okay. Thank you.’
She responded, ‘No worries,’ before he walked off.
After the dispute Payne is seen standing nearby continuing to speak to the reporter in which he recalled the two men, who assaulted him, as Hispanic.
Percy Payne, a security guard with Priebe Security was working Monday night at an office building when he was assaulted by two men riding electric scooters. He believed they were trying to steal his car
Payne removed his uniform and quit after having a heated dispute with his boss
He saw on surveillance that the teens were messing around with his car.
‘One of the individuals was at my driver door with his back to me looking back, the other door was at my passenger door facing me – being the lookout,’ he said.
When he went down to the garage to check it out – he said the suspects saw him and ran off, but he chased them, and hoped someone would call the cops.
He said, ‘Young individual tried to run me over with his scooter multiple times and that is when they started to assault me.’
Things became more dangerous when he noticed one of the men had a screwdriver in one of their pockets.
‘I heard one of them say, hold him and that is when he went got the screwdriver to try and stab me,’ he said.
But, at that point, let them go, before grabbing his work phone, and calling police.
Payne said he told the dispatcher he was assaulted but was not injured – and did not need EMS – and requested an officer.
Since his car was not stolen, he was told by the dispatcher, that an officer would not be coming, he alleged.
Payne is seen chasing after the two assailants in the underground parking garage
Frustrated, Payne said he ‘hung up,’ but then called back.
‘I got a different operator. I told her the situation, and she apologized,’ he said.
A police officer arrived an hour later, that Payne described was ‘very helpful,’ and learned the attack was being investigated as an aggravated assault.
‘The officer told me that that call should have been an emergency case,’ he explained.
The Austin Police Department told Fox that they listened to both calls, and that it didn’t meet the criteria – which is why the police did not initially go to the scene.
In a statement, they said, ‘it sounds like it was handled correctly and within policy.
‘The suspects were no longer on scene in this case. The caller stated that he was fine, does not need EMS.’
‘No vehicle was stolen in this incident, so we would not respond to an attempted car break-in or a stolen vehicle attempt,’ they said.
The two thugs begin to assault Payne while he tries to call police for help
He claims one of the men had a screwdriver in his pocket and believed he was going to get stabbed
Payne told the reporter, ‘I don’t think it was taken as seriously as it should have been.’
While Payne was speaking to the reporter, his supervisor interrupted first apologizing to him.
‘We are very sorry what happened to you,’ she said, before she continued, in part, ‘we have a policy you are not allowed to do any interviews in uniform.’
Percy told her ‘he understood,’ but it was about ‘his safety.’
Shortly after Payne quit.
‘The fact that was my supervisor told me that it was my fault that I got assaulted that let me know all I needed to know,’ he said.
He later told the news outlet he does not regret his decision.
The security company said in a statement to Fox7, ‘We are in the process of gathering details. We have been made aware of it and are looking into the situation.’
