Man claims handcuffs went on the wrong wrists in car theft case

Fort Oglethorpe resident says trying to help police got him jailed

Photographed in the offices of his attorney, McCracken Poston, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015, in Ringgold, Ga., Daniel Edge talks about an incident that happened earlier this month in Fort Oglethorpe. He was arrested, wrongly, he believes, by an officer from the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office.
Photographed in the offices of his attorney, McCracken Poston, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015, in Ringgold, Ga., Daniel Edge talks about an incident that happened earlier this month in Fort Oglethorpe. He was arrested, wrongly, he believes, by an officer from the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office.

FORT OGLETHORPE, Ga. - As he tailed a gold Saturn last month, Daniel Edge dialed 911.

He had spotted Travis Wayne Burroughs in the car, a man he knew the police were looking for. Edge works as a maintenance man at the Savannah Springs Apartments in Fort Oglethorpe, where somebody had stolen a tan Chevrolet Malibu on Oct. 10.

One day later, Chattanooga police officers spotted the Malibu and stopped it. They said Burroughs was inside, but he ran away. However, according to a Fort Oglethorpe police incident report, Burroughs left his wallet behind. Fort Oglethorpe police paperwork identifies him as a suspect in the theft.

That news reached Edge, along with a picture of Burroughs. Be on the lookout, the victim of the car theft told him. Then, on Oct. 13, he saw someone in East Ridge who looked similar to the suspect. Edge began to follow.

"He stole a car," he told a dispatcher. "I know y'all are looking for him."

Edge followed Burroughs to the Victory Fuel gas station on LaFayette Road. According to the Catoosa County incident report, Edge confronted Burroughs and his friend.

When officers arrived, however, Burroughs walked away free.

photo Photographed in the offices of his attorney, McCracken Poston, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015, in Ringgold, Ga., Daniel Edge holds his head as he talks about an incident that happened earlier this month in Fort Oglethorpe. He was arrested, wrongly, he believes, by an officer from the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office.
photo Photographed in his offices on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015, in Ringgold, Ga., attorney McCracken Poston talks about an incident that happened earlier this month in Fort Oglethorpe involving his client, Daniel Edge, left. Edge was arrested, wrongly, he believes, by an officer from the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office.

Instead, the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office focused on Edge, charging him with assault, impersonating an officer, kidnapping and stalking. Deputy Spencer Slatton said the car in question was not actually stolen, and that Edge intimidated Burroughs and Burroughs' friend, Howard Billingsley.

But Edge, who is currently out on bond, said he is the victim of a misunderstanding. He gave police the correct information - they just didn't realize it. He said Burroughs was spotted in a stolen car, but it was not the car Edge followed that evening. He said officers would not allow him to explain the full, confusing situation.

Edge says he was wrongly arrested. A recording from Edge's 911 call supports part of his version of events. He says he was only trying to help officers.

"There's so much going on in my head right now," he said. "I have a wife. I have two children. This is going to destroy my family. We can't go anywhere. I've not been able to sleep. I can't hardly eat."

Burroughs' listed phone number was out of service Wednesday. Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk, said he's not sure whether his deputy knew Burroughs had been spotted in a stolen car a few days before the confrontation with Edge.

Last week, though, Sisk told WRCB-TV the department charged Edge with impersonating a police officer based on what Burroughs and Burroughs' friend told investigators.

"The main part of it, of course, is the testimony of the victims," Sisk said. "And then, of course, his actions of giving pursuit."

The confrontation

Slatton's report said Edge told the deputy he walked to the men's car and demanded they get out. He grabbed the keys out of the ignition and threw them on the ground behind him. He told the men he was a police officer.

Edge denies that. He said when Burroughs and Billingsley stopped at the gas station, they walked to his car and asked if he was following them. He said yes, and that the police were on their way. He asked them to remain at the gas station.

"I got scared," Edge said.

The recording of his 911 call backs up part of his version of events, though it does not capture the entire interaction.

When both cars stopped at the gas station, he told the dispatcher, "They're approaching me. Send somebody to the Victory Fuels."

The recording captures only snippets of what the men said.

"I'm just holding you here," Edge said at one point.

Then, an unknown voice said, "Give me my keys."

The chase

Burroughs ran away across Pine Hill Drive into a parking lot and a store. Edge hopped in his truck and drove over there, remaining on the phone with a dispatcher.

"He's in Big Lots," Edge said. "He's wearing blue shorts. He's trying to get out of the emergency exit. He went out the back."

A Fort Oglethorpe police officer arrived. Edge told the officer where Burroughs had run, and the officer gave chase. Another officer arrived and joined the pursuit. They caught Burroughs inside W.L. Wilson & Sons Funeral Home.

At first, Edge said, officers thanked him for his help. They gave him fist bumps.

But when they went back to the gas station and checked, they found Billingsley owned the gold Saturn. Edge said the officers then began questioning him.

"My heart sank," he said.

He tried to call up the incident report number of the stolen Malibu on his cellphone, he said, but the officers ordered him to put it away and keep his hands on the steering wheel, visible.

Edge had a gun in his car, so he understands why they would have been on high alert.

But his attorney, McCracken Poston, said, "They didn't give him any benefit of any doubt."

Chattanooga police have declined to give the Times Free Press the incident report where officers supposedly spotted Burroughs in the Malibu on Oct. 11. But Fort Oglethorpe records show a Chattanooga officer called a Fort Oglethorpe lieutenant Oct. 12, reporting Burroughs was in the car and got away.

The Chattanooga officer said he would "immediately" issue a warrant for Burroughs' arrest on a charge of receiving stolen property.

Fort Oglethorpe Detective Tammy Davis, who handled the Malibu case, said she doesn't know if Chattanooga police actually issued that warrant. But if they did, she suspects Burroughs would not have walked away free.

"If he has an active warrant and Chattanooga wants him," Davis said, "he would have been arrested."

She said she isn't sure why Edge ended up in jail.

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.

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