Two musicians walked out of the Tam on Tremont Street early Sunday into a chaotic scene following one of your basic head-punching Theater District fights outside a neighboring pizza place.

That much guitarists Javier Reyes and Dustin Boudreau of Animals as Leaders and Boston Police agree on. Their accounts of what led to the two winding up in a cell at District A-1 for the rest of the night, and in court a couple days later for arraignment, however, diverge after that.

In an account posted on the Animals as Leaders Facebook page, a friend said the two men came out of the Tam on Tremont Street around 1:30 a.m., with Boudreau playing air guitar to the song that was playing inside. What they didn't know was that the area around Tremont and Stuart was swarming with cops, investigating a 1 a.m. fight outside New York Pizza, which left the fight's loser bleeding from the head and eye, the result of being punched repeatedly by the alleged victor.

According to the Animals as Leaders account, a cop immediately shoved boudreau and told him he interfering with a police investigation:

Confused and startled, [Boudreau] turned around and asked what Officer BLANK was talking about. Officer BLANK then grabbed [Boudreau] by the throat and slammed him against a wall, then turned him around to handcuff and arrest him. Meanwhile, JAVIER REYES pulled out his cell phone and informed the officers that he was recording the arrest. Immediately, Officer BLANK turned around from arresting [Boudreau] and hit Reyes's cell phone from his hands (both hands were holding the cell phone) onto the ground, breaking the cell phone. Next, Officer BLANK grabs Reyes and shoved him face first into a wall and handcuffs him. Neither [Boudreau] nor Reyes, in any way, resisted arrest. ... Reyes had the right to videotape the public arrest of [Boudreau] as we were in a public location, on the sidewalk, after exiting The Tam. Officer BLANK violated Reyes's rights by forcing the videotaping to end by his physical actions. Reyes phone screen is completely shattered; Officer BLANK unlawfully destroyed Reyes's property in order to stop the recording of [Boudreau] arrest.

The friend has sent a formal complaint to Boston Police, demanding an investigation.

The official police report on the incident, written by Officer Paul Downey of District A-1, however, says the two men were the aggressors:

As Officer Downey was attempting to gather information related to the suspect's description [in the earlier attack], a white male, approximately 25 years of age, suspect #1, approached Officer Downey's left side, jumping up and down, appearing to be playing the air guitar, shouting and screaming and jumping back and forth, coming extremely close to Officer Downey's face/body, causing a disturbance/scene. Detective [Michael] Doogan approached the suspect and asked the suspect to stop and back away from the scene. The suspect refused to stop and continued his antics. Detective Doogan advised the suspect that he was disturbing the peace as a crowd was beginning to gather. Detective Doogan then advised the suspect that if he did not immediately stop his behavior/actions and leave the area, that he would be placed under arrest. Detective Doogan attempted to escort the suspect away from the scene, at which time the suspect stated to Detective Doogan, "Get your fucken (sic) hand off me, and then violently twisted away from Detective Doogan. As Detective Doogan was placing his department issued handcuffs on suspect #1, suspect #2 (Reyes) began yelling at Detective Doogan to leave suspect #1, his friend, alone. Detective Doogan ordered suspect #2 to back away from the arrest scene. Detective Doogan attempted to move the growing crowd back, when suspect #2 refused and became louder, stating that he was taping the incident and recording the officer's abuse. Suspect #2 was again ordered to step back away from the scene, as he was within a foot of Detective Doogan, forcefully shoving suspect #2's cell phone/camera less than an inch from Detective Doogan's face. Detective Doogan, in fear of being struck in the face with said camera phone, attempted to remove the threat, using his forearm to create distance between the cell phone/camera and his, Detective Doogan's, face. As Detective Doogan was creating distance between the cell/camera phone with his forearm, suspect #2 then violently grabbed Detective Doogan's left forearm and began to twist it. Detective Doogan, with the assistance of other officers on scene, placed suspect #2 under arrest and defused the situation. After suspect #2 was placed under arrest, Detective Doogan recovered the suspect's cell/camera phone from the sidewalk and entered it into the suspect's property at the booking desk. At the booking desk, the suspect continued his uncooperative, unruly towards the police (passive resistance), refusing to walk or enter into cell #10, as assigned. [Reyes] forced the Officers to physically place him in his cell.

Reyes reports he had to miss a scheduled date in Toronto to appear in court on May 30 for arraignment on a charge of assault and battery on a police officer. Both men were released on personal recognizance at their arraignments, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

H/t JulieP.