A speeding motorist who ran an off-duty police officer off the road is in the Hamilton County Jail on assault and theft charges, according to East Ridge police.
The incident happened about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Assistant Chief Stan Allen said in a news release. East Ridge officer Timothy Allison was in his personal car on Marley Way when on oncoming Chevrolet Cruze sped toward him and nearly hit him head-on.
Alison had to swerve into a driveway to avoid a crash, Allen said. Then he turned around and drove after the Cruze, hoping to get a licence tag number. Allison saw the driver stick a hand-gun with a mounted light out the driver-side window and point it toward his car. He managed to get the tag number and called it in to dispatchers while the Cruze went out of sight northbound on South Germantown Road.
The vehicle came back to a Quanterria Hughes on North Parkdale Avenue in Chattanooga, so East Ridge and Chattanooga officers went to the address together, Allen said.
Quanterria Hughes said the car was hers but her husband, William Hughes Wright, also drives it. Wright was called and walked to the Parkdale location where Allison identified him as the driver.