Police say an argument over a late delivery became a physical fight at American Way Middle School before officers arrested an employee.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis-Shelby County Schools employee was charged with aggravated assault after police said a delivery driver suffered six puncture wounds during a fight at American Way Middle School, a confrontation that began with an argument over the driver’s late arrival and ended with the employee’s arrest.

Braxton Stewart, 36, was arrested after Memphis police responded to the southeast Memphis school on Aug. 20, according to an affidavit of complaint and reporting based on police and court records. Authorities say the driver told investigators that Stewart pushed him during an argument before the two men began fighting. The driver accused Stewart of striking him repeatedly with a pen during the struggle. Stewart was later booked into the Shelby County Jail on an aggravated assault charge. The charge is an allegation, and the available public reporting does not establish that Stewart has been convicted in connection with the confrontation.

The criminal case grew out of a police call shortly before 9:30 a.m. Officers were dispatched to American Way Middle School at about 9:26 a.m. for what police described as a wounding. When officers arrived, both Stewart and the delivery driver were still at the school, according to accounts of the affidavit. Police did not describe a search for a fleeing suspect or a prolonged effort to determine who had been involved. Instead, officers were able to speak with people at the scene, examine the driver’s injuries and take Stewart into custody while emergency responders prepared to transport the injured man.

The delivery driver’s statement provided investigators with the initial sequence described in the charging document. He said he had come to the middle school to make a delivery and acknowledged that he was late. According to that account, the delay led to an argument with Stewart, who was working at the school. The driver told police that Stewart pushed him in the chest and that the confrontation then became a physical fight. The records summarized by news organizations do not provide a full transcript of what either man said before the fight, and they do not publicly identify the delivery driver.

During the fight, the driver told investigators, Stewart used a pen to puncture him several times. Officers reported observing six wounds: four on the man’s back, one between his eyes and one on the left side of his neck. Local reporting said the driver was taken to a hospital with injuries described as non-critical. That assessment supplied an important detail not contained in every account of the court filing, some of which said only that he was transported for treatment. No reliable later report located for this article described a deterioration in his condition or identified additional injuries.

Police arrested Stewart at the school and transported him from the scene. Reporting based on the affidavit said he was later taken to a police facility and invoked his constitutional rights rather than giving investigators a statement. The publicly available accounts therefore rely heavily on the delivery driver’s description of how the confrontation began and what happened during the fight. They do not provide a detailed competing account from Stewart, and the absence of such an account is significant when describing a pending criminal allegation. The available record also does not resolve every movement or action by either man during the struggle.

Stewart was booked into the Shelby County Jail, and Law&Crime reported that his bond was set at $25,000. Jail records cited by the publication showed he was released the day after the confrontation. Later reporting said online court records listed a public defender as Stewart’s attorney. USA TODAY reported on Aug. 26 that the lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lack of comment from an attorney does not establish anything about the merits of the charge, and no public defense account reviewed for this article explains how Stewart intends to answer the accusation.

The case also raised questions for Memphis-Shelby County Schools because the confrontation happened at a district middle school during the morning. Initial local reporting emphasized that the incident involved two adults and that no students were involved. That distinction narrowed the immediate scope of the episode even though it occurred on school property. Action News 5 reported that it sought information from the district after the arrest but had not received a response at the time of its original report. USA TODAY later sought additional information about Stewart’s employment status and similarly reported no immediate response as of Aug. 26.

Those gaps mean several employment and administrative questions remain separate from the criminal case. The reporting reviewed for this article does not establish whether Stewart was suspended, reassigned, placed on leave or subjected to another personnel action after his arrest. It also does not identify the company or organization associated with the delivery driver, specify what was being delivered or explain whether the package or shipment itself played any role beyond the dispute over timing. None of those unanswered questions should be filled by assumption, particularly because the police account centers on an argument between two adults rather than a documented dispute over the contents of the delivery.

The timing of the incident is clear enough to establish that it occurred during a regular school morning. Police were called shortly before 9:30 a.m., and the driver was taken from the campus for treatment. However, public reports do not describe any school lockdown, evacuation or interruption of classes, and they do not say that children witnessed the fight. The earliest Action News 5 account specifically reported that preliminary information indicated no students were involved. That fact helps separate the criminal allegation against an employee from broader assumptions about what students at the school saw or experienced.

The aggravated assault charge reflects the accusation filed after police reviewed the driver’s injuries and his account of the encounter. It does not, by itself, determine how a court will ultimately evaluate the evidence. The reports reviewed for this article do not indicate whether investigators obtained surveillance video, statements from additional witnesses or forensic testing connected to the pen. They also do not identify the pen in greater detail or say whether it was collected as evidence. Such material, if it exists and becomes part of the court record, could provide additional context beyond the initial affidavit.

Early reports contained differing procedural snapshots because they were published at different points after Stewart’s arrest. One local report said he was expected to make an initial court appearance, while later reporting said he had been arraigned and was due back in court Aug. 28. Those dates have now passed. A search for a reliable subsequent report did not locate a verified public update establishing the result of the Aug. 28 proceeding or a final disposition of the aggravated assault charge. For that reason, the earlier scheduled appearance should not be presented as the present status of the case.

As of the latest verified reporting reviewed here, Stewart had been released on bond after being charged with aggravated assault, while the delivery driver had been taken to a hospital with injuries reported as non-critical. No later authoritative report located for this article establishes a conviction, dismissal, plea or other final resolution. The driver’s name has not been publicly identified in the reports reviewed, and his condition after the initial hospital treatment has not been independently updated.

Author note: Last updated September 30, 2026.