East Ridge Police arrived on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the East Ridge Flea Market at 6725 Ringgold Road in response to a reported pedestrian struck and hit and run incident.
Once on the scene, police determined that the incident was actually a robbery. The victim advised police that a white woman claiming to be a police officer grabbed her purse and attempted to flee in an SUV. The victim had not released her purse and was partially dragged by the SUV. The victim’s mother attempted to help but was struck by the suspect vehicle in the process. Both the victim and her mother were injured, but only the victim required medical attention. The victim’s two children were present for the incident but were not hurt. The suspect vehicle struck three parked cars on the lot while fleeing.
ERPD officers later located the suspect vehicle at the Tennessee Welcome Center on I-75 North past the East Ridge Exit. It was identified as a vehicle that had been reported stolen through Chattanooga Police Department the previous day.
THE ERPD Criminal Investigation Division gathered information from the robbery and compiled it with information from the auto theft in Chattanooga to determine that the suspect was Alecia Driggins.
Warrants were issued on Ms. Driggins on Monday on charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, theft, and two counts of felony reckless endangerment.
On that same day, Ms. Driggins was discovered to be in custody at Bradley County Sheriff’s Office after having been arrested by Tennessee Highway Patrol on unrelated charges. A hold was placed on Ms. Driggins for the East Ridge charges.