4 await date in court

The victim of a downtown kidnapping says he’s moving away from Chattanooga, fearing retaliation after four suspects were arrested following his ordeal.

Mychael Chunn, 19, was the first of two downtown kidnapping victims last week. He rode in his own car trunk for 10 hours while his assailants drove to his home, stole his property, pawned it and finally released him.

“I thought about my little girl,” he said Tuesday in a phone interview. “I tried to keep positive ... There were some times I did have some bad thoughts.”

He said he’ll move back to his parents’ home in another part of Tennessee, which he declined to share out of fear of retaliation from friends of the suspects.

Christopher Turner, 19; Jeffery McClendon, Jr., 19; and Twain Jackson, 20, are scheduled to appear in Hamilton County General Sessions Court on Sept. 7 to face charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.

A 17-year-old male also has been arrested and charged with the same crimes. His name is not being released because he is a juvenile.

Bond was set at $550,000 for McClendon, $500,00 for Turner and $100,000 for Jackson, records show. Officials with Juvenile Court were not available for information about the 17-year-old.

McClendon, Turner and the 17-year-old also are suspects in connection with a second downtown kidnapping that took place two days after Chunn’s, according to affidavits.

Joseph Clark told police that he parked his car at 200 High St. in Bluff View and was walking toward the bridge at the Hunter Museum of American Art when he was attacked, stuffed in the trunk of his car and driven to his home, which his attackers then robbed.

No charges have been filed yet in that incident because the investigation is ongoing, said Officer Rebecca Royval, spokeswoman for the Chattanooga Police Department.

Chunn told police that, about midnight on Aug. 25, he had left his job at Buffalo Wild Wings on Market Street and began walking up Second Street when noticed three males following him.

When he began to walk faster, one of the men ran at him and he ended up on the ground, the affidavit states. The three took his car keys and phone, opened the trunk of his 1999 Green Chrysler LHS and told him to get inside.

“I said ‘Guys, come on, I’ve got a 6-week-old little girl, don’t do this to me,” Chunn recalled saying.

The suspects then drove around, eventually going to Chunn’s Mountain Creek Road home, where they stole items that they later pawned while he still was in the trunk.

“They actually talked to me quite a bit,” he said. “They constantly asked if I was OK.”

At one point, the men asked if he were hungry or thirsty and opened the trunk lid to throw him a half bag of Ramen noodles.

Though Chunn had food and water in the trunk from a recent spelunking trip, he said he asked for water to get fingerprints for police.

After the 10-hour ride, the men drove his car to an alley behind 2204 Bailey Ave. and told him to “count to 100,” then get out of the trunk.

“That right there was probably the most scary moment of the entire time,” he said. “I thought I might get shot as soon as I opened the trunk.”

But when he got out, they were gone.

He drove back to his work and called police.

Chunn said he hasn’t returned to work since the incident and is trying to transfer to another restaurant.

Two days later, according to an investigator’s statement filed with the Hamilton County Jail, some of the same men confessed to being involved in the kidnapping of Clark.

On Aug. 28, as he walked to the bridge, Clark said he heard someone running behind him. Turning, he saw a black male aiming a small handgun at him and telling him to get on the ground. Another suspect grabbed his car keys and got his car, loaded Clark into the trunk and drove away, the affidavit says.

The three men went to the Clark’s residence and invaded the home with handguns, the statement said.

Clark was able to open the trunk and get out in the 1300 block of Orchard Knob Avenue, then ran to the Salvation Army on McCallie Avenue, according to the affidavit.

Using cell phone records, police traced calls made from Clark’s cell phone to the 17-year-old, which led them to Turner and McClendon, according to the affidavit. All three confessed, the statement says.