Terry Allen Nations
A woman who had a gun pointed at her during a May 11 incident in St. Elmo told members of the City Council on Tuesday night that Chattanooga Police turned the focus on her actions rather than the man with the gun.
Adrienne Cooper said she "probably not" should have gotten out of her car to snap a picture of the license plate of the man she said had been driving recklessly. However, she said, "I am tired of feeling intimidated in my community."
She said the response of the driver was to pull a gun and put his finger on the trigger.
Ms. Cooper said the arriving officer "gave me absolutely zero care. He was both disrespectful and dismissive."
She said police knew within 20 minutes the identity of the man with the gun as well as his license plate number and place where he worked. However, she said police posted almost 12 hours later that they were still seeking to identify the gunman.
She said Asst. Chief Glenn Scruggs refused to take down a body cam video of the incident, though she and a witness requested it due to it giving their identifying information.
Terry Allen Nations, 49, of Flintstone, Ga., was arrested in the case on a charge of aggravated assault. Ms. Cooper said, "This Georgian was given an OR bond and released from jail though he had committed a potential felony level offense against a Tennessean in Tennessee."
The local business owner and veteran said, "I am here to ask the City Council to hold the police department accountable. Shift the focus off of me and my response in a traumatic situation and instead return the attention to the problem at hand, which is the Georgian who committed this crime and CPD's retaliatory response to citizens who are filing complaints."
A number of other citizens spoke in support of Ms. Cooper.
One claimed that Ms. Cooper was treated badly because she is black.
The affidavit for Nations says he was advised to contact the Walker County Sheriff's Office "for the threats he and his family are receiving."
The complaint in the case says Ms. Cooper and Kelsey Parker were leaving from work downtown and traveling Broad Street on their way home at 8:45 p.m. It says somewhere around the 2700 block of Broad Street a road rage incident occurred between them and the driver of a red Ford truck.
It says while stopped at an intersection that Ms. Cooper rolled down the window of her vehicle and yelled at the person driving the truck, "Kindly f--- off, please. I have people in my car." This was said after she was being tailgated and the driver of the truck was honking the horn and flashing the lights and the driver was "flipping a bird," it was stated.
The two vehicles proceeded on along St. Elmo Avenue to 53rd Street where Ms. Cooper stopped her vehicle in traffic and got out of the vehicle. The complaint says, "With her phone in her hand she approached the truck and started taking pictures." In one picture she captured the tag of the vehicle.
The complaint says at this point the driver of the truck pulled a handgun and pointed it at Ms. Cooper, who was standing in the roadway. Other vehicles had also stopped.
The complaint says Ms. Cooper asked for others present to do something to help her, and no one responded.
It says the driver asked Ms. Cooper what she was doing, and she responded that she was taking pictures of him because he had almost hit her vehicle multiple times.
Ms. Cooper then asked the driver why he pulled a gun on her and he said "for safety."
Ms. Parker said she stuck her head out of the window and the driver waved the gun at her.
The complaint said Ms. Cooper then returned to her vehicle and drove home. She said as the truck was driving away the driver honked the horn before proceeding on to Georgia.
About 30 minutes passed before Ms. Cooper called the non-emergency line to report the incident, the report says.
The officer said, "I asked Ms. Cooper if she had called 911 during the event and, if not, why. She stated she did not because she knows there is actual emergency that police need to responded to and she was safe. They both stated that if they had stayed any longer then they would not have felt safe."
The officer said, "At no point did Ms. Cooper or her passenger Ms. Parker attempt to pull over or call 911 during this encounter."
A hearing in the case was set for Sept. 22.