HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An off-duty Hendersonville police officer was charged with driving under the influence and more after he was caught traveling at speeds of up to 104 miles per hour along Vietnam Veterans Boulevard early Monday morning, according to court documents.
A deputy’s in-car radar reportedly recorded a black 2015 Honda Accord traveling “104 mph in a 65 mph zone” along Vietnam Veterans Boulevard just after 1:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 6.
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Court documents states a deputy with the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle continued traveling at a high rate of speed toward the New Shackle Island Road exit before eventually coming to a stop at the traffic light near the off-ramp.
The driver — who was identified as an officer with the Hendersonville Police Department — had “bloodshot-watery eyes,” court documents states, and deputies reported the odor of an intoxicating beverage coming from the vehicle.
When additional deputies arrived, they spotted the officer standing by his car in handcuffs. The deputy who made the traffic stop allegedly told them that the officer asked him to “turn off his body camera” after he was asked to step out of the vehicle.
However, when the deputy refused to do so, the officer grabbed at the camera repeatedly and grabbed the deputy’s wrist at some point, officials said. Body camera footage reportedly captured the moment when the officer grabbed his keys off the hood of the arresting deputy’s patrol vehicle and began to walk back to his car.
The deputy said he grabbed the officer to stop him from leaving, which led to a “brief struggle.” When another deputy arrived, both allegedly struggled to get the officer under control, adding that the officer was told to “stop multiple times” and was given “a taser warning,” court documents state,
Eventually, an officer with the Hendersonville Police Department responded to the scene and helped deputies take the driver down to the ground to be handcuffed. During the struggle, one of the deputy’s bodycam was knocked off and he suffered a “laceration to the left side of his left hand.”
Due to the assault and resisting arrest, the off-duty officer was asked to consent to a blood draw for testing instead of performing a field sobriety test. However, he refused and was taken to the Sumner County Jail.
Inside the vehicle, law enforcement found two small unopened Jack Daniels bottles and two unopened White Claws. Court records showed the off-duty officer was charged with driving under the influence, assault on a first responder, resisting arrest and speeding.
He was later released on a $10,000 bond and is expected to appear in Sumner County General Sessions Court on Jan. 24.
