A seven-mile chase this week between Manchester and Tullahoma, Tenn., ended after shots were fired, a patrol car was damaged and two men with Chattanooga ties were taken into custody on drug and other charges.
Coffee County authorities said the Wednesday incident started during a joint undercover operation involving the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Coffee County Sheriff's Office and Manchester Police Department.
Officers saw a couple of men they believed were making a drug deal in a Chevrolet SUV parked at the Walgreens store in Manchester. As the lawmen started to surround the vehicle, the driver backed over the curb into traffic on state Highway 55 and sped away toward Tullahoma with officers in hot pursuit, according to an account by Capt. Frank Watkins.
A quick seven miles later, the suspect vehicle crossed the median near Rose Hill Memorial Gardens, then crossed back.
A state trooper in front of the SUV tried to slow and stop the vehicle, but the fleeing suspect hit the patrol car from behind and the pursuit screeched to a halt. Officers ran toward the SUV but the driver reversed across the median into the opposite lane of Highway 55. That's when a trooper and a deputy fired their handguns at the vehicle, flattening a front tire, Watkins' account states.
Corderius Temon Trammell, of 2001 Lyerly St. in Chattanooga, and Carlon Dontez Bowman, of 302 N. College St. in Tullahoma, were taken into custody.
Sheriff Steve Graves said no one was injured in the incident.
"All in all it worked out well. Our officers and the highway patrol did a good job," Graves said. "They kept anyone from getting killed."
Graves said the deputy and trooper involved both remain on duty.
Hamilton County Jail records show Trammell has a record of arrests on drug charges and driver's license offenses between 2013 and January. Bowman also has several Hamilton County arrests on driver's license, theft, drugs and weapons charges between 2011 and January.
In Coffee County, Trammell is charged with reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and manufacturing, delivery or sale of a controlled substance. His bond is set at $262,500.
Bowman is charged with manufacturing, delivery or sale of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. He is being held on a $252,500 bond.
TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said the state agency is investigating only the shootings by the deputy and trooper.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.