Two Chattanooga teenagers arrested for allegedly carjacking elderly man at gunpoint

Brandon Moates, left, and Elijah Springs
Brandon Moates, left, and Elijah Springs

Two teenagers suspected of carjacking an elderly man's truck at gunpoint in Knoxville last week were captured in Chattanooga over the weekend, records show.

One of the suspects, 18-year-old Brandon Moates, initially escaped after leading police on a high-speed car chase across East Chattanooga on Friday night, but he was later found and arrested Sunday. The second suspect, Elijah Springs, 19, was arrested without incident Friday.

Both men are suspected of stealing a Nissan pickup truck from an elderly man in Knoxville at about 7 a.m. on Oct. 13. Knoxville police were able to pull photos of the suspects and Chattanooga investigators identified Moates and Springs as the men in those photos, Chattanooga police Sgt. Josh May said.

Both suspects are validated gang members. To validate someone as a gang member, officers use a series of factors such as tattoos, articles of clothing, social media and confessions.

On Friday, an officer spotted the stolen Nissan pickup truck and Moates at a gas station on Glenwood Drive. When the officer tried to pull Moates over, he hit the gas - speeding up Glenwood Drive to North Chamberlin Avenue, then to Dodson Avenue, North Holtzclaw and East Main Street before crashing at East Third and North Kelly streets, police said.

Police said Moates weaved in and out of traffic during the pursuit, which happened at about 8:20 p.m. Friday, and ran a red light and multiple stop signs. He also drove into oncoming traffic, forcing drivers to swerve to avoid head-on collisions.

After the stolen truck crashed into another vehicle on East Third Street, Moates and a passenger ran on foot and were able to escape.

However, investigators tracked Moates to East Lake Courts, where he was arrested Sunday. Moates was charged with evading arrest, failing to exercise due care, failing to maintain a lane, and with running 11 stop signs and a traffic light. He is being held in the Hamilton County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

Springs was transported to Knoxville to face charges in the carjacking and is being held on a $75,000 bond. Springs was shot in April 2015, records show. He was a bystander who was wounded when two murder suspects got into a shootout with police on Milne Street.

May said it's common to see gang members shift between Knoxville and Chattanooga, and he added that cooperation between the two cities' police departments has been critical in several cases.

"We're definitely seeing a lot of back and forth between our guys going up to Knoxville and coming back down here," he said.

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 1423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas. Follow @ShellyBradbury.

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