A Hixson man who shot at a patrol car and led Hamilton County deputies on a nearly day-long search now faces charges that include attempted murder.
Randy Ellis Harris, 44, was also charged with reckless endangerment, evading arrest and unlawful firearm possession.
Harris was arrested Friday evening after a standoff and negotiations with SWAT teams from Hamilton County and Chattanooga.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Late Thursday, a deputy tried to stop Harris’ black Ford truck on Highway 153 because Harris had felony warrants out on charges of aggravated assault and vandalism or malicious mischief, court filings show.
Harris sped up when the emergency lights went on, the deputy wrote in a report. When the deputy turned on his siren, Harris reportedly accelerated and started to run red lights.
While leading the deputy on a chase down Norcross Road, Harris reportedly started shooting toward the deputy’s car with a handgun out of his driver’s side window, the deputy reported.
Harris shot at the car “numerous times,” the deputy wrote. When it stopped, the deputy’s car was smoking, according to a report.
“I remember seeing bullet casing fly through the air, and I could hear my patrol car get hit,” he said in his report.
Harris stopped near his home on Hixson Avenue, according to the report, and fled on foot into a wooded area.
There was an unknown female passenger in the truck during the chase and while Harris was shooting out the window, the report said.
(READ MORE: Hit-and-run suspect found in Nashville after East Ridge search)
Deputies later found the woman inside Harris’ home, where she told them he had gone into the woods.
Later, law enforcement believed him to be inside a home on Forest Dale Lane.
He surrendered to SWAT teams after a “tense standoff and prolonged negotiations,” according to a social media post by the sheriff’s office.
Harris remained in the Hamilton County Jail without bond as of Tuesday, jail records show. He is set to appear in court Wednesday.
He was on probation from a previous conviction for aggravated assault, according to the report.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.