FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Division I college basketball player faces multiple charges after Fort Lauderdale police said he fought a security guard at a bar packed with spring breakers near Las Olas Beach Wednesday, then punched a police officer in the face.
De’Sean Allen-Eikens is a guard on the California State University, Northridge men’s basketball team.
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On Wednesday, he became an inmate at the Broward County Jail.
The video (see below) shows a security staffer tackling and punching the 22-year-old at Rock Bar, located at 219 S. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., then a Fort Lauderdale police officer intervenes in the struggle.
Officer Joseph Perez wrote in his report that Allen-Eikens, who appeared to be intoxicated, punched his hands down from his body, then punched him two times in the face, causing Perez to punch him back.
Some of the initial confrontation between Allen-Eikens and the officer is obscured in the video.
In the video, after being tackled, Allen-Eikens asks the officer to get off his chest.
“I can’t breathe, sir,” Allen-Eikens is heard saying on the video.
Then, he asks why he was handcuffed.
“What did I do?” Allen-Eikens asks.
“You hit me in the face,” someone is heard replying.
“Who hit you in the face?” Allen-Eikens asks.
“You hit me in the face,” the person replies.
“Can y’all back me up please?” Allen-Eikens asks the gathering crowd. “I didn’t hit that n---- in the face.”
The video continues with the officer holding Allen-Eikens down.
“You just gonna let him hit me in the face?” Allen-Eikens asks. “This n---- hit me in the face first.”
Allen-Eikens is eventually placed in the back of a Fort Lauderdale police cruiser.
Police said he was first taken to Broward Health Medical Center to be medically cleared, and then to the Broward Main Jail.
Allen-Eikens, whose residence was listed in the arrest report as Shelbyville, Kentucky, faces numerous charges, including felony counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.
Local 10 News has reached out to the California State University, Northridge athletics team for comment.
Allen-Eikens was eventually released from jail.
Video of incident (contains explicit language):