A Nashville social media personality known online as “Chud the Builder” found himself in handcuffs on May 9 after allegedly eating nearly $400 worth of food at a Broadway restaurant and then flat-out refusing to pay the bill.
Dalton Eatherly, who has built a following by filming racially charged content in downtown Nashville, was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct, theft of services, and resisting arrest.
According to the arrest affidavit, the restaurant had already flagged Eatherly before he even sat down. Staff asked him not to livestream or cause any disruption to other diners.
He agreed, or at least appeared to. But somewhere between the appetizers and the entrees, the agreement fell apart.
Restaurant staff noticed he had been livestreaming the entire time and asked him to stop. That is when things went sideways fast.
A Meal That Ended With Handcuffs
Eatherly had ordered two full entrees, drinks, and appetizers, running up a tab of $371.55.
When confronted about the livestream, he allegedly became loud, made racial statements, and caused enough of a scene that staff had no choice but to involve police.
He reportedly told the restaurant outright that he would not be paying for any of the food he had already eaten.
Metro Nashville Police responded and arrested him at the scene. He was booked on the three charges and placed under a $5,000 bond, though some social media comments noted the bond appeared lower in certain records, listed closer to $500 for the individual charges.
Nashville Reacts Online
Video of the arrest spread quickly across Instagram, drawing thousands of likes and hundreds of comments from people who had clearly been following Eatherly’s content for a while.
Reactions ranged from outright laughter to pointed observations about the circumstances of the arrest. Several commenters noted the apparent irony that the officer who arrested him was Black, given the nature of the content Eatherly regularly posts.
Others questioned whether the open container charge mentioned on camera by an officer matched the disorderly conduct charge listed in the official report, with one account writing that the two did not line up.
Some locals pushed back on the idea that Nashville police routinely enforce open container violations on Broadway, saying it rarely happens in a stretch of downtown where people walk around with drinks constantly.
A few viewers called the whole thing performative, suggesting Eatherly thrives on exactly this kind of attention.
Whether this arrest becomes another chapter in his content or a genuine consequence that slows him down remains to be seen.
What is clear is that a restaurant in Nashville is out nearly $400, a social media influencer is facing criminal charges, and the internet had a field day watching all of it unfold in real time.
