SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Both security camera and body cam footage of Cody Bass’s arrest on September 25 has released online, though the charges against him for assault were dropped by the District Attorney.

In the security cam footage, which has no audio, Bass is holding a cup and walks past Aleworx, stopping to talk to the doorman. While their conversation initially doesn’t appear heated, Bass exits, then returns after the doorman seems to make a comment.

Over the course of the video, Bass enters and exits multiple times as it escalates to an argument, with both of them aggressively gesturing. Bass approaches the doorman, still on the sidewalk, and gets kicked. The doorman gestures again for Bass to leave, which he does after reportedly saying he would call the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO)

Shortly after, Bass did call DCSO to report the doorman for battery. In the body cam footage, Bass tells the officer that he and the doorman, who he names as Bobby and the head of security at Aleworx, were having a conversation about previous disagreements when he was suddenly kicked. Bass could not specify which leg he was kicked in during his report to the officer.

While the police report says that Bass said, “(The kick) honestly wasn’t a big deal,” the footage goes on to show Bass clarifying the statement.

“Obviously you know who I am,” says Bass. “He’s willing to do this to me. What is he doing to everybody else?” He also claims later in the video that the doorman has “been beating people up the back parking lot all over town” and references a previous incident where the doorman allegedly grabbed a cup he was holding and threw it into the highway.

In the doorman’s report, he says that Bass threatened to harm him, send people to kill him and said something to the effect of, “What if I break this cup over your head?”

The officers in the video deem that Bass was the aggressor after watching the security footage, also talking about how Bass is an inconsistent witness. They also speculate that he is extremely intoxicated.

Bass, in his public letter, said a breathalyzer confirmed he only had one drink that evening.

In the video, Bass is confused about why he is being arrested, and the officers explain that the doorman is entitled to defend himself if he thought he was being attacked. They also clarify later that it is a “private party arrest” where they are arresting Bass on the doorman’s behalf. Bass responds, “That’s bulls–. You guys are f–ed up. It’s freaking not cool.”

Though Bass was arrested with charges of assault, trespassing and harassment, the District Attorney dropped the charge for assault after reviewing the case.

Bass was still charged with misdemeanor offenses of trespassing and harassment, and his court date for arraignment is set for December 22.

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.