NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - In 2021, Sammy Allen said he had no choice but to turn a series of text messages over to the state.
In his complaint filed with the Tennessee Private Protective Services, Allen, a longtime security officer, said he had been texting with a female friend, after seeing her post pictures of herself wearing a security uniform working at a bar while working for the company “Solaren.”
According to the texts, the woman admits to working, “security here.”
Allen responds, “When did you get your security license?”
The woman texted back, “Ummmm…”
He then wrote, “You do realize that’s a felony for impersonating a licensed officer.”
Allen then included screenshots of the texts he filed with the state about Solaren and its owner Jack Byrd.
“I had to step in and put my foot down just because I didn’t want nothing bad to happen to her,” Allen told WSMV4 Investigates.
In that complaint, Allen cites the texts, writing, “Jack Byrd III…knew she was unlicensed and that they keep scheduling her for security.”
Byrd and Solaren have been at the center of a WSMV4 Investigation, “The Thin Blurred Line,” which revealed how the company is accused of hiring people who aren’t licensed police officers but wear police identification.
Some are accused of also acting as police officers.
But in Allen’s case, he accuses Byrd and Solaren of also allowing an unlicensed person to be identified as a security guard.
According to state records, Byrd was fined $250 in a consent order, accepting the order to avoid formal charges.
“When a company as big as Solaren starts doing that, it’s a big issue, because then everyone else follows suit,” Allen said.
While that case was closed in 2021, the state opened four additional investigations following our reporting into past and former employees of Solaren who were not certified by the state but still wore police identification.
Now, two additional complaints have now been filed with the state about Solaren and Byrd.
The first follows our reporting that showed how police said Byrd picked up a gun on the scene of a deadly shooting, put the gun in his vest and carried it to his personal car before returning the weapon to the police.
The complaint states that security video from that scene shows Byrd wearing police identification even though he isn’t a licensed police officer.
The second new complaint included a video of a vehicle outfitted with multiple lights, including red, yellow, blue and red. The complainant states that he and his fellow guards have seen Byrd several times using red and blue lights in his company cars.
The complainant wrote, “He is making all of us look bad as security and especially making the police look bad as well by acting reckless and thinking that he’s above the law and him and his guys van do anything they want. I felt that I needed to report this especially after what I saw on Channel 4.”
For two days, WSMV4 Investigates reached out to Byrd’s attorney to seek comment on our latest findings. Just before our deadline, Byrd emailed us, writing, “Somewhere, out there is a tree tirelessly producing oxygen for you. You owe it an apology. You can do better than this, if a single shroud of truth came from your reports don’t you think I would be held accountable? These complaints have about as much validity or value as your journalism. I have found it truly impossible to underestimate the depths your ethics can plunge. It is quite alarming just how dishonest you really are; you should try telling the news and not selling the news.”
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office said they are continuing to review the investigative file about the deadly shooting, including Byrd picking up the gun, with Metro Police.
A spokesman for the state Department of Commerce and Insurance, which oversees Tennessee Private Protective Service, said they cannot comment on pending investigations.
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