Sawyer Clanton
A man who smashed his way through the News 12 lot on South Broad Street has been given a four-year prison sentence.
Sawyer Clanton, who is now 20, was first to be taken to Georgia, where he is to go into custody on a probation violation for a business burglary.
Judge Rebecca Stern said after he is released from Georgia, she will determine the manner of serving his term in Tennessee.
She said, "I would like to see him do well. He has potential. He is smart."
However, she said she wanted strict conditions set for any alternative sentence.
Clanton has been in jail for 10 months since the incident just before last Christmas.
Police said he tried to steal over $500 worth of Xbox and Playstation controllers, and a 12-pack of Bud Light from the Walmart on Cummings Highway.
There was a 4 a.m. police chase that led to the WDEF lot. He went through the gated fence before hitting a news vehicle and a stone picnic table. His vehicle stopped when he hit a metal gate at the adjacent Chattem plant.
Police said Clanton was tackled after he tried to run. He then had to be tazed when he tried to break a police officer's finger.
Prosecutor Matthew Rogers argued that Clanton should be sent to prison. He said, "He's lucky that the police did not shoot him. They should have. He's a danger to our community."
Clanton said he got hooked on Xanax and other pills, plus alcohol. He said he would sell video games at the East Ridge flea market, then buy pills from drug dealers while his parents were sleeping. He refused to name the drug dealers, saying they were gang-related and would come after him.
He said he took a handful of Xanax prior to the incident in December.
His mother, a 911 operator, said her son has had mental problems and tried suicide. She said he has recently gotten on some medicine that is working.
Clanton agreed, saying, "I don't want to be like this the rest of my life."