Two Soddy-Daisy officers were terminated from the police department three months after they came forward with evidence about a fellow officer’s alleged untrustworthy behavior.
Jake Elrod and Eric Jenkins were immediately placed on paid leave following their April 30 testimony about Jeremy Wright. They were fired Wednesday.
Their testimony was made during a hearing in the case of Justin Whaley, 43, a former Hamilton County EMT who was convicted of reckless vehicular homicide. Wright was at the scene of Whaley’s crash and was a key witness at his trial.
Whaley’s attorney filed a petition for the court to reconsider the jury’s guilty verdict once new information about Wright’s character was brought to light.
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Two Soddy-Daisy officers terminated after testifying about a fellow officer’s alleged untruthfulness
If Wright was allegedly an untruthful officer, a jury may have found him to be an unreliable witness, Whaley’s attorney, Lee Davis, argued in his motion.
Elrod and Jenkins were called to testify during a hearing in front of Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson.
Shortly before Whaley’s trial, they were tasked with carrying out an internal investigation into Wright’s conduct.
Wright was accused of wanting to “sleep with young girls,” Elrod testified at the time.
“They were saying things about Jeremy Wright, that he was a pedophile,” Elrod said. “It was very concerning.”
(READ MORE: Former Hamilton County reserve deputy sentenced to 9 years in vehicular homicide case)
Both officers found Wright was not forthcoming during that investigation, but former Soddy-Daisy Police Chief Mike Sneed disagreed.
Neither officer came forward to the Hamilton County district attorney prior to April due to fear of losing their jobs, they testified.
Their attorney, Janie Varnell, said their dismissal is a blatant act of retaliation.
“The message that this sends to our community is that the Soddy-Daisy Police Department wants to hide and cover up all of the bad deeds of their officers,” Varnell said in a statement.
Tennessee law allows public employees to freely communicate their concerns to elected officials, Varnell said in a statement.
Elrod and Jenkins’ termination is not only a violating their freedom of speech, but it opens the city of Soddy-Daisy to liability, she said.
In an email, Soddy Daisy City Manager Burt Johnson said the officer’s testimony was not a factor in their termination.
“Rather, the city has determined that their motivation in contacting the district attorney related to their desire to besmirch Sgt. Jeremy Wright and to substitute their judgment for that of superiors in the chain of command, all as more fully set out in a letter to each describing the cause for their termination,” Johnson said.
The city rejects any retaliation claims and stands ready to vigorously defend its decision, Johnson said, and it likely will have to.
Elrod and Jenkins will have their day in court, their attorney, Logan Davis, said in a statement.
“These are the types of police officers you want to root for, the ones who do what is right, even when their jobs are on the line,” Davis said.
(READ MORE: Possible ‘special treatment’ for suspect in fatal Highway 111 crash)
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp was asked by the Chattanooga Times Free Press if the officers’ terminations might deter other officers from coming forward with testimony in the future.
“We never involve ourselves in human resource matters when it comes to law enforcement,” Wamp said by email.
Elrod and Jenkins’ termination came two weeks after Patterson found their testimony to be reasonably credible.
Patterson ordered Whaley be given a new trial on the charges of vehicular homicide by intoxication and driving under the influence based on, in part, their testimony.
“Unlike the anonymous complaint that Sgt. Wright had ‘drugged and raped a girl,’ the testimony provided by Lt. Elrod and Capt. Jenkins carries significant credibility,” Patterson said in the order.
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.