NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An armed man with a criminal history allegedly terrorized people inside an East Nashville laundromat Tuesday.
The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) responded to a call about a man with a gun at a Dickerson Pike laundromat on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Officers arrested 42-year-old Michael Gaines, who reportedly had a gun in his pocket.
News 2’s Andy Cordan spoke with a woman who works at the laundromat. The employee insisted she never saw a gun, but she said the man was harassing customers, yelling, cursing, and being disruptive. Cordan showed Gaines’ mugshot to the woman, who said she recognized him.
“He went outside and he came back in. The dude was coming out of the bathroom and he rolled up on him…I told them to stop arguing, [there are] kids in here,” the employee recalled.
According to an affidavit, Gaines pulled a gun on a male customer and robbed him of $20.
In addition, authorities said Gaines demanded money from a young mother who was there with her three children, but due to a language barrier, she didn’t understand him. She also told law enforcement she had put her money in the machine and didn’t have any extra.
The affidavit indicates the 42-year-old became irate and started yelling before he pulled the pistol from his pants and held it in the air. Fearing for her safety and her family’s safety, the mother rounded up her kids and hid in the bathroom until police arrived.
Cordan: “Did you see those children?”
Laundromat employee: “Yeah, I see the kids and the two ladies, too.”
Cordan: “How old were these children?”
Laundromat employee: “About two — two or one.”
Cordan: “So they were little babies?”
Laundromat employee: “Yeah.”
According to the Tennessee Department of Correction, Gaines previously served time for aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and cocaine possession. He was reportedly released from state custody in 2019.
“What do you think about a guy in here, where people are just trying to wash their clothes, allegedly threatening everybody?” Cordan asked.
“I don’t like to see that in here. No, they don’t need to come in here like that,” the laundromat employee replied.
As of Wednesday, Feb. 5, Gaines is being held at the Downtown Detention Center on an $88,500 bond for several felony charges, including aggravated robbery, theft of a firearm worth less than $2,500, possession of a firearm with intent to commit a dangerous felony, and possession of a firearm as a felon, according to the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office.
News 2 learned the gun police confiscated was stolen out of Clarksville.
