Civilians, officers pull Knox County deputy from burning car after police chase, sheriff’s office says
The chase happened around 7 p.m. on Parkside Drive, Communications Director Kimberly Glenn said, when an officer tried to stop a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Two civilians, along with officers from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, rescued a crashed deputy after a police chase Monday evening, according to officials with KCSO.
The chase happened around 7 p.m. on Parkside Drive, Communications Director Kimberly Glenn said, when an officer tried to stop a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee at a dealership near Pellissippi Parkway and I-40. According to an incident report provided by Glenn, the driver of the Jeep, identified as Marcus Johnson Jr., did not stop and deputies began to chase it.
The chase continued through Cedar Bluff and along Middlebrook Pike, Piney Grove Church Road and Amherst Road, the report said, with Johnson going faster than 90 mph. Two other deputies joined the chase as well, according to the report. During the chase, a deputy, identified as Officer Brown, reportedly crashed his patrol car, which caught fire.
“Nearby officers including Patrol, Organized Retail Crime, and Narcotics Units along with two civilians worked to put the fire out and rescue the Officer who was trapped inside his cruiser,” Glenn said.
While the officers helped Officer Brown, an additional report from the sheriff’s office said, KCSO’s AirWatch helicopter followed Johnson, following him to a home on Chinkapin Lane. Another deputy responded to the home, the report said, adding that a woman came to the door “in a panic and stated to [the deputy] that he is inside and she did not know who he is.”
The deputy followed Johnson up the home’s stairs, taking him into custody, the report said.
“Mr. Johnson then began resisting arrest but was eventually taken into custody,” the report said. “[The woman] stated that the suspect had a backpack with him when he entered her home. I then found a back pack that [she] identified as the back pack that Mr. Johnson entered her home with in a bedroom closet.”
Inside that backpack, the report said, was 602 grams of marijuana.
Once other deputies arrived on the scene, they found another 183 grams of marijuana in the Jeep, according to the report. Deputies also said they found more than $1,200 on Johnson and inside the Jeep’s driver side door.
Officer Brown was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center where he is in stable condition, Glenn said.
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