A driver’s account traces the confrontation from his delayed arrival at a middle school to a fight that ended with six reported wounds.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A delayed delivery, an argument and a push unfolded in quick succession at a Memphis middle school before two adults began fighting and a driver suffered six puncture wounds, according to the police account that led to an aggravated assault charge against a school employee.
The Aug. 20 confrontation at American Way Middle School can be reconstructed only to the extent described in police and court records cited by news organizations. The central account comes from the injured delivery driver. He told investigators he arrived late, argued with Memphis-Shelby County Schools employee Braxton Stewart, 36, and was pushed in the chest before the two men began fighting. During that fight, the driver said, Stewart used a pen against him multiple times. Officers later arrested Stewart, who was charged with aggravated assault. The charge remains an allegation, and the available reporting does not establish a final court outcome.
The day’s sequence began with the driver’s arrival at the southeast Memphis school. Public reports do not say what he was delivering, how late he was or whether a particular delivery window had been set. They also do not identify his employer. Those details might explain more about the circumstances but are not necessary to describe the allegation police recorded. What the driver acknowledged to investigators was that he was late and that his arrival led to an argument with Stewart. No reliable report reviewed here provides the exact words exchanged between the men during that first stage of the confrontation.
According to the driver, the encounter then crossed from a verbal disagreement into physical contact when Stewart pushed him in the chest. The two men began fighting after the push, the affidavit says. That part of the narrative is important because police did not describe the incident as a sudden attack with no preceding struggle. At the same time, the existence of a fight does not by itself establish what level of force either man was legally entitled to use. The public reports do not provide enough evidence to resolve questions of justification, self-defense or each participant’s actions throughout the entire encounter.
The driver told investigators that the pen was used once the physical fight was underway. Police later documented four puncture wounds to his back, one between his eyes and one on the left side of his neck. The locations of the injuries are part of the official account, but they do not alone establish the exact positions of either man during the struggle. Local reporting said the driver was transported to a hospital in non-critical condition. His name has not been released in the reports reviewed, and there has been no reliable later public update located here describing his condition after the initial treatment.
At roughly the same time, someone summoned police to the school. USA TODAY reported from the affidavit that officers were called at about 9:26 a.m. for a wounding, while other local reporting rounded the response time to shortly before 9:30 a.m. Officers arrived while both men were still there. They could see the driver’s wounds and arrange for him to receive medical treatment. Stewart was detained at the scene rather than identified later through a search, according to the accounts reviewed. The immediate police response therefore produced both the injury observations and the arrest that formed the basis of the early public narrative.
What happened after the two men were separated followed two different tracks. The driver was taken to a hospital. Stewart was taken into police custody and later booked into the Shelby County Jail. USA TODAY reported that after Stewart was taken to a police station, he invoked his rights. The reviewed reports do not contain a substantive statement from him about the dispute, meaning the detailed chronology before officers arrived comes mainly from the driver’s account. That limitation is relevant because a charging affidavit records the basis for an accusation; it is not the same thing as findings made after a trial.
Police charged Stewart with aggravated assault. Law&Crime later reported that he was held on a $25,000 bond and that jail records showed his release the day after the incident. Subsequent reporting indicated that he was represented by a public defender. USA TODAY said on Aug. 26 that the lawyer had not immediately responded to a request for comment. No public defense statement found for this article supplies a competing chronology of the argument, explains Stewart’s conduct or indicates how he intends to contest or otherwise respond to the charge.
The school setting produced its own timeline of public information. The earliest Action News 5 report described one adult hospitalized and another detained after a morning incident. Police said preliminary information showed no students were involved. Later reports added Stewart’s identity, the charge, the delivery dispute and the alleged use of a pen. That progression illustrates why early accounts of a developing criminal investigation can appear incomplete: authorities first confirmed the broad event and only later disclosed allegations contained in court records. None of the reviewed reports says students were injured or directly participated.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools was asked about the episode as details emerged. Action News 5 reported that district officials had not responded to its initial request for comment. USA TODAY later sought information specifically about Stewart’s employment status and likewise reported no immediate response as of Aug. 26. The absence of a published district answer leaves a separate gap in the chronology after the arrest. The available reporting does not establish whether Stewart continued working, was placed on leave or became subject to another employment action after the criminal charge was filed.
Several potentially important evidentiary steps also remain outside the public chronology. The accounts reviewed do not say whether the school had surveillance footage covering the place where the fight occurred, whether police recovered and preserved the pen or whether other witnesses gave formal statements. They do not describe photographs beyond officers’ observations of the driver’s wounds, nor do they provide detailed medical findings. The lack of public information on those points does not mean that such evidence does not exist; it means only that it has not been established by the sources consulted for this account.
The procedural timeline becomes less clear after the first week. Law&Crime reported that Stewart had an arraignment and was scheduled for another court appearance on Aug. 28. USA TODAY similarly reported a court date for that day. Because Aug. 28 has passed, describing that appearance as an upcoming event would now be inaccurate. Searches for later reliable coverage did not locate a verified account of the result of that hearing, a new court date or a final disposition. The story’s confirmed chronology therefore ends before a publicly documented resolution of the criminal case.
That leaves a sharply defined set of established facts and allegations. Police responded to American Way Middle School on Aug. 20 after a fight between two adults. The delivery driver said his late arrival led to an argument, a push and a physical confrontation in which Stewart allegedly used a pen against him. Officers documented six puncture wounds, and local reporting described the man’s condition as non-critical. Stewart was arrested, charged with aggravated assault and later released on bond. No reliable later report located for this article establishes what ultimately occurred in court.
Until additional court records, official statements or other verified evidence become public, the unanswered portions of the timeline should remain unanswered. The driver’s later medical status, Stewart’s employment status, the existence of surveillance footage and the present procedural posture of the criminal charge could not be independently confirmed from dependable post-Aug. 28 reporting reviewed for this article.
Author note: Last updated September 30, 2026.