Mark Clayton Cain
A standoff at a residence located at 173 Royal Oaks Dr. in Bradley County has resulted in multiple charges for a couple.
At approximately 8:47 a.m. on Tuesday, a suspicious vehicle in the Royal Oaks subdivision was reported to the Bradley County 911 Communications Center. The caller advised a truck was in the roadway in front of her residence with two individuals inside the vehicle.
Patrol Deputy Chris Shope arrived in the area and located a male and female around the vehicle described to the 911 Center. When running the license tag displayed on the vehicle, Deputy Shope was advised the tag was displayed on the wrong vehicle. Upon running the vehicle’s identification number, he was informed the truck was stolen out of Cherokee County, Ga.
As Deputy Shope approached the male, who was standing on the passenger side of the vehicle, the man produced a handgun, held the gun towards the female’s head, and forcibly entered into 173 Royal Dr. by breaking out a window and kicking in the front door.
The Sheriff's Department immediately activated the deployment of SWAT and hostage negotiators to the scene of the incident. Negotiators were able to make contact with the male inside the residence, and negotiated the safe release of the homeowner who was barricaded inside a bedroom. The homeowner was safely evacuated after crawling from the bedroom window.
After multiple hours of negotiations, SWAT personnel gained entry inside the residence which led to the arrests of the male and female. Investigators have been able to determine the male and female are boyfriend and girlfriend.
The male has been identified as Mark Clayton Cain, 38, of Chattanooga, who is charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, theft over $1,000 (possession of stolen property) and being a fugitive from justice. Cain is wanted on multiple outstanding criminal warrants from the states of North Carolina and Georgia including felony larceny, theft by receiving stolen property, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The female has been identified as Andrea L. Pridgen, 32, of Lake Waccamaw, N.C. She has been charged with theft over $1,000 (possession of stolen property).
The homeowner who was safely evacuated from her residence has been identified as the caller who reported the suspicious vehicle to the Bradley County 911 Center.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene and assisted the Sheriff's Department, including ATF, Department of Homeland Security, Bradley County Emergency Management Agency, 10th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Bradley County Fire Department, Bradley County Emergency Medical Services, and Constable Brent Runyons.