A former Bravo reality TV child star and gospel music heiress has been charged with theft and assault with a deadly weapon for a brutal attack caught on Walmart security cameras and a bystander’s video in Nashville, TN.
Diamond Tankard, 21, who appeared on Bravo’s “Thicker Than Water,” was charged over the weekend with assaulting another young woman with a sock filled with rocks in the checkout lane of a Nashville Walmart, Davidson Court records obtained by USA Today show.
Video of the melee hit was posted on X, with an unidentified bystander callously urging others to not stop the attack and saying, “Let them party.”
It’s unclear what started the July 18 assault, which police say also resulted in Tankard stealing the victim’s $1500 iPhone and $900 Louis Vuitton handbag after the attack, according to USA Today’s reporting of the arrest affidavit.
The news outlet reported the victim told Nashville police Tankard “came from behind, grabbed her by the hair (and) began to assault her” which police also confirmed from store security video.
An emergency services crew transported the victim to a nearby hospital where she reportedly received stitches for a gash in her forehead.
In the Bravo series, which ran for three years beginning in 2013, a much younger, innocent-looking Diamond Tankard was featured in more than two dozen episodes of the show, the New York Post reported.
The reality series revolved around her grandfather, Ben Tankard, a former NBA player turned American gospel-jazz music producer, and his family in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
“Diamond is a blossoming fashionista who adores fashion design, dancing, and modeling,” is how the Bravo website described her reality show character. “Diamond loves being the center of attention and wants to be an entertainer when she grows up.”
The video in Walmart reveals Tankard wearing an ankle monitor during the violent incident. That may be connected with another violent incident involving Tankard in December.
In the prior case, according to the Post, Tankard was charged with attempted first-degree murder after she allegedly intentionally struck a woman with her vehicle after a fight outside a bar.
According to a post by Clarksville Today, which tracks arrests and posts booking shots on X, in February Tankard had also been arrested for violation of the terms of her release on a reported $1 million bond posted in that case.
In the most recent incident, Tankard has since posted $25,000 bond, according to Davidson County inmate and court records obtained by USA Today. Her next court hearing is set for Aug. 22.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
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