Squealing tires, burnouts, and wheelies are illegal in most places, and while police can, and often do, pull over riders for it, one security guard in Tennessee decided to take that responsibility into his own hands. The confrontation between a motorcyclist showing off in the Slider Inn parking lot and the guard who tackled him, however, may have roots in a murkier past.
Uploaded to r/memphis on Reddit, the video shows a biker riding to a parking lot near Slider Inn in Memphis, Tennessee. This is where the “rent-a-cop” guard shows up and tackles the guy. The footage is recorded by a helmet camera, so it’s quite evident that the security guard assaults with almost no resistance from the biker. Just some curse words exchange, that’s all.
From the footage available, the biker doesn’t appear to do anything, not even a squeal of tires is caught on camera. But in the comments section, several users claim to recognize him, saying he often shows up at the Slider Inn with friends to pull “a little wheelie.”
If the noise and commotion don’t bother anyone, then, as one commenter put it, “a little front wheel lift isn’t riding like an a**hole.” I tend to agree, especially since no police were involved. It does make me wonder, though, if the security guard recognized this rider from past stunts near the Slider Inn and simply decided he’d had enough. That still doesn’t excuse his actions. As one Redditor put it: “Mall cop had a power trip.” That certainly seems to be the case here.
What escalated the situation further was the guard taking the biker’s motorcycle after the tackle. The rider bolted, and another individual stepped in to return the bike to its owner.
As one user summed it up: “The guy that brought him the bike is an absolute champ. Cut up on a bike, I get it: we all mess up. But we all need to try to act right in public. A security guard is not an officer.” Public squealing and wheelies may not be the smartest moves, but if they’re illegal, enforcement should come from the police, not a parking lot security guard.
