Hamilton County area authorities reported 14 hate crimes last year

Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher, left, and Lt. Glenn Scruggs answers questions from the media Wednesday afternoon following a suspected homicide in the building directly behind them in College Hill Courts in  this file photo.
Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher, left, and Lt. Glenn Scruggs answers questions from the media Wednesday afternoon following a suspected homicide in the building directly behind them in College Hill Courts in this file photo.

REPORTED HATE CRIMES

CHATTANOOGA AND HAMILTON COUNTY, 2014 * Anti-Black Bias 2 simple assaults 1 motor vehicle theft 1 theft from a motor vehicle 1 vandalism 1 forgery * Anti-White Bias 1 simple assault 1 intimidation * Anti-American Indian Bias 2 thefts * Anti-Atheism/Agnostic Bias 1 simple assault * Anti-Gay/Lesbian Bias 1 aggravated assault 2 simple assaults Source: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

In September 2014, three men beat up 19-year-old Terrance Eberhardt outside the East Chattanooga Recreation Center while allegedly shouting gay slurs.

The crime was one of just 14 hate crimes to occur in Hamilton County during 2014, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

It was also the most serious offense, state records show. Eberhardt's jaw was shattered and he had to undergo surgery to repair his gums. His mouth was wired shut for six weeks.

The three teenagers charged in the assault -- Christopher Woodard, Logan Odom and Damonte Battle -- each pleaded guilty to one count of assault in January. Each was sentenced to one year on probation.

The teenagers also were ordered to have no contact with Eberhardt.

Hate crimes -- crimes driven by bias against the race, religion, ethnicity, physical disability or sexual orientation of the victim -- aren't common in Chattanooga, or across the state.

"They are remarkably rare," said Chattanooga Police Department Lt. Glenn Scruggs.

Across Tennessee, there were 295 reported hate crimes during 2014, according to TBI. The most common hate crime in 2014 was simple assault, which made up about 30 percent of all reported hate crimes for the year.

Simple assaults accounted for half of Hamilton County's hate crimes, according to the bureau.

It can be tough for law enforcement to determine whether a crime should qualify as a hate crime, according to TBI. Investigators should consider a wide range of factors before classifying a case.

Factors that indicate bias can include symbols or graffiti left at the crime scene, patterns of incidents where one race or people group is repeatedly targeted, or incidents that happen on significant racial or religious holidays, according to TBI.

Some hate crimes are clear-cut. In 2011, three white men drove through East Lake Courts, a predominantly black neighborhood in Chattanooga, shouting racial slurs and throwing fireworks into windows. All three later pleaded guilty to civil rights intimidation.

But even when police or sheriff's deputies do classify a case as a hate crime, it may not be prosecuted as such.

Hate crimes can be prosecuted only at the federal level, said Melydia Clewell, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office, and it's rare for federal prosecutors to pick up local hate crime cases.

At the state level, prosecutors and judges can use hate or bias as an enhancing factor in a sentencing, she added.

That was not considered in the sentencings of the three teenagers charged with beating Eberhardt.

Contact staff reporter Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.

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