Man charged with aggravated assault on police officer

Dalton police tile
Dalton police tile
photo Dalton police tile

After the collection of police officers and state troopers caught up to him, demanded he get out of the car, pulled him from the driver's seat when he refused and held him against the asphalt, they asked Ben Broaddus why he didn't comply with their commands.

"I was scared," he told them, according to a Dalton police incident report. "Y'all scared the s*** out of me."

Officers charged Broaddus, 49, with violating traffic signals, driving under the influence, failing to maintain his lane, obstruction of a police officer and aggravated assault on a police officer. The weapon of Broaddus' choice being the car he was driving.

Minutes earlier, around 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Officer Lane Bennett had watched Broaddus speed through a red light in his Ford F-150 at the intersection of Pentz and Crawford streets, he said. Broaddus had almost hit Bennett's patrol car.

After Bennett chased him down and stopped him, he asked Broaddus why he ran the red light. He later said Broaddus was slow to respond, that his speech was slurred. Eventually, according to an incident report, Broaddus apologized for his erratic driving.

Bennett asked if Broaddus had been drinking. Only Coca-Cola, he responded, lifting a can toward the officer. Bennett asked if he took any medication.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Broaddus asked, according to the incident report.

Bennett told Broaddus he didn't think he should be driving. Broaddus said he was fine and asked Bennett to follow him home. Three other officers arrived on the scene. Broaddus said he would not get out of the car to take a field sobriety test, before rolling up his window.

"Due to the situation with Broaddus being intense and rapidly evolving," Bennett later wrote in the incident report, Officer Mattias Castillo smashed his baton against the truck's passenger side window, shattering the glass.

Broaddus then drove away, almost hitting Castillo and Officer Matthew Dykes, according to the incident report. He ran a red light. He swerved toward another lane. The police chased Broaddus, who drove about 2 miles before stopping in the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office parking lot.

Bennett pointed a gun at Broaddus, told him to get out of the car. Broaddus stayed inside. One officer reached through the broken window to unlock the door, another officer pushed Broaddus from the back toward the driver's side door, and two more officers tried to pull him outside.

He resisted, according to the incident report, so more officers grabbed him and brought him to the ground. Held against the ground, Broaddus continued to try to wiggle free before officers physically placed handcuffs around his wrists.

Broaddus remained in the Whitfield County Jail on Monday afternoon in lieu of a $3,500 bond.

Contact Staff Writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or at tjett@timesfree press.com.

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