Man arrested in riot, police say

Bystanders called it a Friday-night barbecue, and police called it aggravated riot.

Either way, police arrested a known gang member in Chattanooga after they said he insulted police, resisted arrest and inspired one of his friends to throw a full glass beer bottle at a patrol officer.

Deangelo Lovingood, 21, is charged with aggravated riot and criminal trespassing. He was booked into the Hamilton County Jail, where he remained Saturday night on a $12,000 bond.

According to the arrest report, Lovingood and several others were standing outside Woodlawn Apartments at 2300 Wilson St. when Chattanooga police officer Ernest James Fielden III approached. Lovingood allegedly yelled an obscene epithet at the officer and incited a crowd of 50 to do the same, an arrest report states.

“The whole crowd continued to chant this, even as I was getting out of my patrol car,” the report states.

Fielden identified Lovingood as the disorder’s instigator and was attempting to arrest him when someone threw a Bud Ice bottle “less [than] 2 feet from my head,” the report states. Backup officers soon arrived, the report states.

On Saturday, several Woodlawn residents disputed the arrest report. They said Fielden broke up an innocent barbecue birthday party, spurring Lovingood to snap. One resident said an officer fired a Taser gun without cause. None of the residents wanted to go on the record, and Fielden declined an interview request.

Lovingood’s arrest topped off a week that included three shootings within a mile of the apartment complex.

Ronald Blackmon Jr., 25, was fatally shot in the head March 4 as he stood near Sheridan Avenue and Wilson Street. His killer mistook him for a rival gang member, police said.

On Saturday night, Officer Curtis Penney patrolled the area with a member of the city’s Crime Suppression Unit, exchanging friendly barbs with teenagers he’s searched many times before.

He said he once caught Lovingood with marijuana in his shoe.

“We arrest the same guys over and over,” Penney said. “Deangelo mingled more than anything, but we know he’s part of the Woodlawn Crips.”

As part of the release terms on an earlier criminal trespassing guilty plea, Lovingood was told to “stay out of Woodlawn Apartments,” court records show.