CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A crime spree suspect was arrested Saturday after apparently stealing several cars and swimming across the Red River – only to steal a pack of cigarettes at gunpoint from Walgreen’s.
Saturday morning, the 37-year-old man was seen rummaging through a 2005 Honda Civic on the lot of the Expertech repair shop on Madison Street, according to court records obtained by Clarksville Now.
The man then entered the shop by climbing through an unlocked window, got in a 2016 Subaru Crosstrek and drove it through the shop’s closed garage door, the records said.
In the Subaru, he drove to the Lookout Drive area off of Madison Street, where he tried to enter a home by smashing a window pane to unlock the door. But he was met by the homeowner, who pointed a gun at him, the records said.
The Subaru was later recovered and returned to its owner, according to the records.
The man fled north and swam across the Red River. He then stole a green truck in the Willow Bend area with a loaded gun in it, the court records said. The owner of the truck had left it unlocked with the gun inside.
At about 10 a.m., after receiving multiple calls about the crime spree, Clarksville Police began searching the Old Russellville Pike area, which backs up to the Lookout Drive area across the river. An officer was flagged down by two women on Old Russellville Pike who claimed a man in a green truck had just shot at them.
The women told officers they saw the truck in the middle of Old Russellville Pike. The man approached the women’s car, demanding cigarettes and money. Both women said he tried to get in the car with them, trying to open all four doors. He shot into the hood of their car, the records said.
The officer then saw the truck in front of him on the roadway and saw the man getting inside. He gave the man several commands to stop, but the man drove away, according to the records.
The officer turned on his lights and sirens near Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and Dunbar Cave Road, trying to stop the vehicle, but the man sped away. Police chased him onto 101st Airborne Division Parkway but ended the pursuit when he began driving into oncoming traffic, the records said.
At about 10:14 a.m., a 911 call came in from Walgreen’s at 2109 Wilma Rudolph Blvd. An employee said a man with a gun had just entered the store, grabbed a pack of cigarettes from behind the counter and ran out, according to the court records.
Moments later, police arrived and found the green truck in the parking lot.
The man was found a short distance from the Walgreen’s, and had entered another vehicle, the records said. Police pulled him out of the vehicle. They recovered the gun and a pack of cigarettes with one cigarette missing.
The man was charged with felony theft, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of attempted aggravated robbery.