Kirk Eidson
Robert IngleA pair of now-retired Chattanooga assistant police chiefs gave improper orders and bypassed the chain of command during a November 2013 incident that involved one’s stepson, multiple police officers told an internal affairs investigator.
The internal affairs investigation was opened into the conduct of then-assistant chiefs Kirk Eidson and Randy Dunn after Eidson’s stepson, Robert Ingle, punched his mother in the mouth while she was driving on Nov. 21, 2013.
She received a large knot on the side of her head and visible marks around her lips, according to the internal affairs report. Ingle, who was then 17 and has been diagnosed with a mental illness, left the area after the assault.
When the responding officer attempted to record the incident as both a domestic assault and a missing person, Kirk Eidson called the officer and told him not to, according to the internal affairs report. Instead, Eidson told the officer to file the report as a mental health consumer and missing person incident.
When the responding officer questioned the directive, Eidson apparently called Assistant Chief Dunn, who contacted the officer and reinforced Eidson’s order.