The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into an incident in which a tractor trailer crashed into a Ringgold patrol car, and an officer shot at the tractor trailer.
The case began when investigators tried to catch an alleged tractor-trailer thief. The target, John Raymond Tabor, has been accused of stealing semi trucks in the tri-state area before. Nobody was injured as a result of the gunshots.
Around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the GBI, Tabor drove a tractor trailer into a patrol car behind Cochran’s truck stop, located at 11343 U.S. Highway 41.
Ringgold Police Officer Anthony Thaxton fired at Tabor’s vehicle multiple times. A release from the police department says the officer fired shots after the truck hit the patrol car. (The GBI’s press release does not specify whether the shots or the crash happened first.)
The Georgia State Patrol investigated the crash, while the GBI is investigating the shooting. Ringgold police, meanwhile, arrested Tabor. He remains at the Catoosa County Jail tonight on two counts of aggravated assault against law enforcement, two counts of willful obstruction of law enforcement, theft by receiving stolen property, interference with government property, driving with a suspended license and driving without a valid commercial driver’s license.
The Marion County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s Office also had an active warrant for him.
Six years ago, the Tennessee Highway Patrol arrested Tabor and his brother, James Tabor, after they stole a semi truck from a Chattanooga company where James Tabor had been working at the time. The truck was loaded with furniture from Dayton.
One of the brothers crashed the vehicle on Old Dayton Pike in Soddy Daisy on Jan. 15, 2012. Five days later, officers found the brothers and charged them with theft over $60,000 and criminal conspiracy.
John Tabor later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of theft of property in that case, according to Hamilton County Criminal Court Records. He received a three-year suspended sentence, meaning he would not go to prison if he complied with his probation terms.
Tabor was also arrested in May 2015 in a similar case. According to an article in the Chattanoogan at the time, Tabor was working for S&H trucking and stole a $50,000 freightliner when no one else was on site. He allegedly drove the truck to Marion County and stole a trailer.
According to Hamilton County Criminal Court records, Tabor pleaded guilty to theft of property in that case, receiving a three-year suspended sentence.
He has another, pending theft of property case in Hamitlon County Criminal Court.