SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Sumner County deputy with “an eye for crime” took two wanted men off the streets following a chase that ended with a crash earlier this month, according to officials.
It all began as a routine traffic stop around 7 a.m. on Feb. 16. A member of the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office noticed a fake temporary tag on the back of a blue Mazda, so he initiated the traffic stop and started to walk to the car.
However, as the law enforcement officer approached, the driver accelerated. While the deputy got back in his cruiser, the Mazda turned onto the ramp for Highway 109, but due to slick conditions, the Mazda spun out. Even though the deputy blocked the ramp, the driver maneuvered behind him and accelerated north on Highway 31E.
From the deputy’s dash camera footage, you can see a bright flash. At that point, the deputy noticed the Mazda had left the road again and crashed into a pole. A picture from the scene shows the front of the car down in a culvert and badly damaged
The deputy radioed for help and the men were taken to an area hospital.
“This is just a classic case of a good police officer having an instinct and an eye for crime. He noticed something was awry, he knew that the temp tag that he observed was fraudulent, and oftentimes there’s a nexus to other criminal activity,” said Sumner County Sheriff Eric Craddock.
An investigation revealed the car had been reported stolen out of Omaha, Nebraska.
Authorities told News 2 that both men in the vehicle were wanted by law enforcement in multiple states.
“Do we know what kind of nefarious things they might have been doing in your jurisdiction? I mean, what were they up to?” News 2’s Andy Cordan asked.
“I don’t. It’s a little abnormal for the criminals to be out that early in the morning. Praise the good Lord that there was a good cop there to stop them from victimizing anybody else in Sumner County,” Craddock replied.
According to officials, the driver — 33 year old Daniel McFalls — was wanted out of Georgia, with his felonies including assault, theft, and drugs.
Meanwhile, deputies said the passenger — 37-year-old Ramone Dickson — is also a career criminal. Per the Department of Correction (DOC) website, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
DOC officials told News 2 that Dickson was convicted of aggravated robbery, facilitating especially aggravated robbery, and especially aggravated kidnapping in 2010. He also has a reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon conviction from 2006. He was granted parole in 2018, but it was revoked in 2020 and he remained in custody until he completed his sentence in 2021.
According to the sheriff’s office, the 37-year-old now has active warrants for possession of a firearm as a felon out of Montgomery County. He’s also wanted for theft of property in Nebraska.
“Our deputy’s proactive policing and dedication to duty is what makes Sumner County so great. They put on their badge and their uniform, they leave their families, and they go out and try and make sure Sumner County is the safest community in Middle Tennessee,” Craddock said. “I want to commend them for their exceptional police work every day, not just on cases like this. They do stuff like this every day that just goes unnoticed.”
Before McFalls goes back to Georgia to face charges there, Craddock said he’s looking at multiple felonies in Sumner County, including evading arrest and reckless endangerment.
