2 Officers Testify That Miller Sped Toward Them In Vehicle; Woman Describes Frightening Carjacking

Two Chattanooga Police officers testified Tuesday that James Bryan Miller drove an SUV directly toward them, and both said they expected to be hit in an Aug. 1 incident in which Miller at one point drove north in the southbound lanes of I-75.

Investigator Ty Cooper said he was bracing to have Miller ram into his police vehicle in reverse at a house on Watts Avenue, but he said he was saved by a gate that intervened and, briefly, was clinging to the Miller vehicle.

Officer Jamie Barrow said she fired two shots toward the Miller vehicle as it aimed for her patrol car that she had stopped in the fast lane of I-75 to try to warn motorists that a vehicle was coming in the wrong direction. She said Miller made a slight swerve and just brushed her car. She said at the time he had a 10-foot length of chain link fence that he was dragging, and he was driving on the rims of two wheels after suffering two flats.

Despite the full-scale pursuit of the Miller vehicle, he was able to run into some woods and was not taken into custody until five days later.

General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom bound Miller to the Grand Jury on a host of cases, including a carjacking and numerous burglaries, thefts and using stolen credit cards.

She raised the bond on several cases, saying, "I find you a danger to all who came into contact with on the highway that day."

His bonds include $200,000 each for the aggravated assaults against the two officers and one for the carjacking. She set the bond at $100,000 for reckless endangerment.

Investigator Cooper said he and another detective, Matt Rogers, had gone to Watts Avenue for a follow-up on a theft case. He said Miller was in the yard of a house with a tall fence in front, bending over an open hatch of an SUV. He said Miller "did a double take" when he saw the officers, then he walked casually to the driver's seat.

He said Miller slammed the vehicle in reverse, going straight toward his car. Investigator Cooper, who had gotten out of his car, said he jumped into the driver's seat and braced for the collision. But he said he was saved by the gate.

The witness said he at first he did not know the name of the man who drove toward him.

With the gate initially in tow, Miller headed toward Airport Road. Then he got on Highway 153 and then I-75.

Officer Barrow said she was teaching a class at police headquarters on Amnicola Highway when she heard radio traffic that someone had tried to run into a police car and there was a pursuit. She left the class and headed up Amnicola Highway.

The witness said she could see the pursuit in the other lane, and she got off at the Ooltewah exit to be in position to warn drivers coming south that a vehicle was headed their way. She said she got in position in the fast lane just before Miller, who was clinging to the median, arrived.

Christie Jenkins told of the June 14 carjacking at 2:52 a.m. at the Krispy Kreme on Brainerd Road. She said she was coming in from out of town when she got a call from her friend Laura, who wanted to show her some antique watches. She agreed to meet on Brainerd Road.

She said she was looking at the watches when a vehicle sped up and someone began banging on the driver's side window. She said a man with a silver revolver demanded that she get out, and he pulled her out after she opened the door. She said he then drove off in her 2004 VW Jetta.

She said, "I was scared to death. I was just numb. I couldn't believe that it was happening. I was screaming and Laura was screaming."

The witness, who identified Miller as the gunman, said there was a girl with him and she jumped over and got in the driver's seat of the vehicle they arrived in.

She said her ex-husband came to pick her up and suggested she look at Laura's phone. She said on the phone there was a text that said, "She'll be here in 15 minutes."

She said Laura was able to pull up the Facebook page of James Bryan Miller.

After she got the Jetta back, she found that the clutch had been ripped out, it had a flat tire and it now made popping sounds underneath. She said, "It was in perfect condition."

Stacie Coleman told of her $45,000 black RX 350 Lexus being stolen on July 10. She said a couple of days before someone had somehow gotten into her residence and taken a set of house keys and car keys.

She said on the 10th she had gone to the swimming pool at her apartment complex when she looked up and saw a black Lexus being driven out of the complex. She said she thought it was the other Lexus at the compound and not hers.

She said the keys were used to break into a relative's house in Dayton, and some of her personal information that was on her passport and work badge in the vehicle was used to steal her identity.

When Miller was caught at an apartment complex in Hixson on Aug. 6, he was in the stolen black Lexus, fugitive officer Chad Rowe said.