Steven RatledgePolice arrested a Chattanooga firefighter Sunday and charged him with aggravated robbery following a holdup at a Hixson Pike convenience store.
Steven Ratledge, 27, has been placed on leave without pay from the fire department following his arrest, according to a news release from the Chattanooga Fire Department.
Ratledge has been a firefighter for three and a half years and was assigned to Station 19 in Hixson, fire department spokesman Bruce Garner said in a news release.
Officers responded to a convenience store near the intersection of Hixson Pike and Adams Road at 7:10 a.m. for a robbery call and received a suspect description. They were dispatched to a single-vehicle accident shortly after on Highway 153.
The vehicle involved in the accident matched the description of the one used by the robbery suspect and further investigation revealed probable cause to detain Ratledge, according to a police news release.