For those of us old enough to remember the nationwide disappointment of Watergate, the colossal scandal in the early ‘70s that dropped an American president to his knees and resulted in his shameful ouster, you will remember it wasn’t the crime that was Richard Nixon’s downfall, it was the cover-up. Right now I beg you remember the cover-up … the cover-up … and that those who do not study history are forced to relive it.
In several days it is anticipated the findings of an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in a scandal involving Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke will be revealed.
If what I am told by solid sources is true, it is the alleged cover-up that will most likely send our city and its mayor reeling. What has happened to one among us, Bobby Stone, is downright wrong, and every indication is that he’ll soon come out swinging hard and fast against his antagonists.
I take no pleasure revealing this story, not at all, yet none of us should sit by and watch an innocent victim bear the blame and the ridicule in what I feel is a planned conspiracy that is clearly intended to defame him. This is City Hall politics and an abuse of power at its worst and, before this sad chapter in Chattanooga’s history is closed, Blood Assurance will probably be called for aid because a blood-letting of this size in our city I can never recall.
Bobby Stone has been charged by the Chattanooga Police Department with simple assault following a domestic dispute with his wife Lacie. On May 27, at approximately 11 p.m., irrefutable sources reveal he found she was sending a text message to Mayor Berke. Not three weeks earlier, her husband caught the two – and saw with his own eyes – as they were in what is politely called an amorous embrace.
Bobby accosted his wife Lacie and Mayor Berke, who is married, in a parking area behind the restaurant Las Margaritas. As Bobby angrily chastised his wife, “the Mayor did a hasty moon-walk out of there,” revealed a respected source last week.
Mayor Berke, who just announced he will be seeking a second term in a March 2017 election, has since been accused by Stone in actual police documents as “f****** my wife,” but the infidelity accusation pales (as if it were ever small to the other party) when compared to allegations of “abuse of power,” “police overreach,” and out-and-out lying to the very public that Andy Berke has sworn under oath to serve.
Lacie Stone is a central member of the Mayor’s cabinet, just like Police Chief Fred Fletcher, Chief of Staff Stacy Richardson and others. Some in his regime are admittedly aghast of what has become, according to one, “a total circus.” Then again, as others who the public has endowed with power have found, nobody is bullet proof, nor are they ever invisible.
Shortly after Berke was elected some three years ago, he developed what has been described as an extremely-close relationship with Richardson, who Berke hired after she was his campaign coordinator. Until then, she had no experience in government. Eye witnesses say that the two would retire to the Mayor’s office “to work puzzles” behind closed doors. More alarming, neighbors in the Highland Park area where Richardson lives have confirmed Mayor Berke was a frequent visitor to her home, often at odd hours. This isn’t accusatory, but indeed truthful according to eyewitnesses. After all, some acknowledge that working puzzles is fun.
“I would see him get out of his car, looking over his shoulder, and I knew what he was up to. That’s because I’ve gotten out of my car and looked the same way!” quipped one eyewitness, much to the delight of those who appear to have known about the Stacy-Andy friendship well.
Interest in Mayor Berke’s behavior has escalated, most especially with the Stones’ hearing now twice delayed. At the same time, what is believed to be the stark truth has solidified and there is little question Chattanooga’s top political leader has, at times, hardly conducted himself in a manner behooving his elected office.
According to one eye witness, the earlier relationship between Berke and Richardson was so flagrant that members of Berke’s higher executive team at the time – one believed to now be a federal judge -- had an actual “intervention,” as it was called by staff members, with the Mayor. Fortunately, by the time of Chattanooga’s horrific terrorist attack on July 16, 2015, the relationship had cooled and was finally in check.
Lacie Stone, of course, regaled her husband almost daily with the details of daily life in the mayor’s office, often mentioning the Richardson-Berke relationship. Lacie even talked of quitting. But shortly after the murder of four Marines and a sailor on Amnicola Highway, Bobby Stone began to notice his wife was acting strangely. “I don’t think Bobby suspected Lacie at first, since she was so disgusted with the Mayor’s behavior earlier,” said one in confidence, “but then he found a text to ‘Andrew’ on her cell phone and wondered about it.”
It is believed Lacie told her husband that she had become flirtatious with “a Marine from North Carolina” during the memorial events following the terrorist act and that she had quickly stopped any further contact. “The problem was, the idea had been planted by then and Lacie was gone a lot after work, having to work extra, that type of thing … she sometimes had to leave on a moment’s notice,” it was explained.
By happenstance, Bobby and Lacie had a cell phone app called something similar to “Where’s my phone” that they shared. In early May, with several disturbing signs said to be coming more frequent, Bobby began to trigger the app. On May 2, at approximately 9:30 p.m., it signaled the popular restaurant, Las Margaritas.
That is when Bobby caught Lacie and the mayor in a compromising manner in a parked car behind the restaurant. Following the gut-wrenching May 2 confrontation, the Stones’ emotions cooled down after several days and Bobby – in typical fashion according to his friends -- gave his wife “a second chance.”
“After Bobby confronted Lacie … he let her know he couldn’t believe she would put him through something like this. She moved out of the house for a while but she texted him the very next day to say it was all her fault. She said she was drunk, had lured the mayor in, and that she wanted to accept the total blame,” said a close source.
“She specifically asked him to keep it quiet, that it could hurt a lot of people, and that it would never happen again. Looking back, she was trying hard to cover for the mayor. Now that is obvious. But Lacie had no idea … she had hurt Bobby worse than she will ever know.”
Fast forward to Friday, May 27. Lacie had allegedly been drinking after coming home from work that Friday and, at some point, began to text what is believed to be Mayor Berke. Bobby, furious that she flaunted his “second chance,” ordered her to leave and she complied, only to realize she had left her most-telling cell phone behind.
Bobby had allegedly locked her out but she found her way inside and, according to a police statement given by Bobby, the argument was renewed. His wife hit him approximately six times before he dared to respond. (“A city detective informed Bobby that Lacie’s blows were ‘defensive strikes.’ That’s how weird this whole story is,” said a source.)
Bobby is said to have grabbed Lacie by her belt and dragged her out of the house. In rage, he threw a rock through the back window of her car. “He instantly regretted doing that. All of his friends know he isn’t like that at all … but we also know he was in some kind of agony… People need to understand. When she blew her second chance, Bobby’s heart was totally broken.”
And that is when things got quite strange – really strange -- in the realm of law-and-order.
Bobby called a close friend as soon as Lacie finally left. “He was shattered. Lacie sent a text, telling him she had gotten to Chief Fletcher’s … he lives right around the corner … but there was nothing at all about the police being called. Later he found out (Chief of Staff) Stacey Richardson had rushed to the Fletchers and obviously they were planning what to do, how to react. “All of this emotion, this grief … it was just another day at the office to these people. I couldn’t believe you could treat people like this …”
It is believed Lacie Stone left the Fletcher house with Stacy Richardson in the wee hours of May 28, went with Stacy to her home where Lacie lived for some time before getting her own apartment. Under court order, she and her husband can have no contact with one another. It is widely known they are now seeking a divorce.
“I believe Fred was telling his officers what he – and Stacy – wanted them to do,” said one source. “The cops went to the Chief’s house long before they went to Bobby’s. When the police who were involved are called to the witness stand and put under oath, if they will tell the whole truth, you will hear what really happened. Everybody who already knows what really happened believes this is definitely a case where everyone is not equal in the eyes of the law.”
There is little doubt Bobby Stone is planning to take the Mayor, some of his staff, and the police department to court. “That is why Chief Fletcher refuses to speak to Richardson today. Chief Fletcher can say what he wants but, inside, he knows the truth about what happened. He also knows the story on Stacy Richardson.”
One source said, “Bobby said that after Lacie went to Chief Fletcher’s house around 11:15 that night, it was about 2 o’clock in the morning when a female Chattanooga police officer came to Bobby’s house and said she needed a statement, that they were asking Lacie for the same thing.
“Bobby gave her his version of what happened and then the officer said they needed to wait until the “watch commander” arrived, that he was on his way. Bobby specifically asked if he was being arrested and the police officer told him no.
“When the commander got there, he said they needed to go to police headquarters on Amnicola Highway. Bobby asked again if he was being arrested and the watch commander told him no. Well, as it would turn out, he lied to Bobby.”
Bobby was taken to a conference room and gave another statement, again telling the police “The mayor is ******* my wife.” Bobby was detained at the Police Services Center for several hours. So why did they take Bobby Stone to police headquarters instead of jail?
“Apparently some of the City Hall people were also at the Police Services Center, trying to figure out what to do. They knew that this was a bad situation. It was suggested they book Bobby under a ‘John Doe’ but that fell through when they realized that when they took his finger prints, it would mess that idea up. So around 5 a.m. the police took Bobby to jail and booked him with simple assault.”
Bobby Stone was held for approximately 17 hours before his friends were allowed to post $3,000 bond. At an Aug. 9 hearing, Sessions Judge Lila Statom passed the case to Sept. 13, due to the fact the TBI report was not back, and last week Bobby’s attorney, Lee Davis, requested it be pushed back until Oct. 17, once again citing the TBI report was not completed.
This week it is expected the TBI report will be revealed by District Attorney General Neal Pinkston, but insiders say Bobby Stone could care less. According to some of Bobby’s close friends, he is expected to bring litigation against the Mayor and Richardson for alleged abuse of power as well as other charges against Berke for ruining his marriage under pretense of authority.
Richardson, who was named Chief of Staff last year with less than two years of total experience, appears to be in the deepest trouble, particularly if the police chief and other members of the mayor’s team are called to testify in any impending lawsuits. “We have a 28-year-old running our city and she is the most detested member of Andy’s staff. But there is no way Andy can do anything to her,” said one impeccable source, knowing the alleged Berke-Richardson history.
“Stacie knows nothing about what she is doing. She was his campaign chairman and has zero training or experience,” one knowledgeable person revealed. “What Andy has allowed Stacy to do can be completely reflected in the number of the mayor’s staff who have already left. This is the most rotten administration in Chattanooga ever. Stacy Richardson is the reason.”
Said another source: “Fred Fletcher is a great guy. He is a great police chief. But the universal feeling in the CPD is that Richardson has really abused him and the department. It is no secret that Fred is so angry he refuses to speak to her. Really. Call him and ask him,” the source said with bitterness in his voice. “Chief Fletcher has to feel dirty after what Richardson has told him to do. Get the chief on the witness stand, under oath. Get the lawyers to make him tell what has happened.”
Because of the bizarre treatment he experienced, Bobby Stone has a real rub with the police department, particularly after his friendship with Fletcher collapsed so brutally. (The Stones and the Fletchers often ate dinner together during happier times.) Are you kidding me – over six hours from the time Lacie raced to Chief Fletcher’s, her husband is finally booked like a common criminal despite what Chief Fletcher knew about Lacie and Bobby? I don’t care what you think of conspiracies, plots, dirty deals or set-ups, I am of the opinion Bobby Stone was jobbed, pure and simple.
Lacie Stone, said to be seeking a huge amount in alimony from her husband, ain’t got a chance from this side of the circus tent. Not only did she allegedly break the vows of her marriage, she has repeatedly lied and deceived Bobby, as the records show. “How is she going to keep working in the mayor’s office when the dirt comes out? There is stuff that is unbelievable and Bobby has meticulously kept copies of texts, a timetable, and everything. When he makes it public, you will be shocked … and so will Chattanooga,” a source promised.
What about the Mayor? Berke has repeatedly denied any wrong-doing with Lacie Stone and has said he has accomplished many good things during his first term of office. In his re-election announcement two weeks ago, Berke said, “The next chapter of the Chattanooga story is waiting to be written,” but I hardly think Andy ever felt there would be words like these. “Andy knows better than anybody else what they have on him. He doesn’t want all of this to be aired in public. Between Stacy and Lacie, there is no way Andy will ever go on the witness stand,” predicted one source.
What is tantalizing at this point is the TBI report. How much of the real story – and I am assured what you have just read is truthful – will the TBI report contain? I bet it will be some fascinating reading.
But how can it possibly compare with the truth?
Bobby and Lacie Stone in happier times