NASHVILLE, Tennessee — A violent argument between a boyfriend and girlfriend led to allegations of kidnapping and the across the city tracking of the suspect’s car by an MNPD helicopter.
North Precinct officers were called to Moorman’s Arm Road and Buena Vista Pike at 11:54 a.m. where persons attending a day camp at a mosque witnessed an 18-year-old woman try to flee from a small sedan. The witnesses watched as a man got out, grabbed her, slammed her into the rear of the car, put her into a headlock and forced her back inside. She was screaming for help as this was occurring.
A short time later, Officer Clint Gilliland spotted the car traveling on W. Trinity Lane. He attempted a vehicle stop, but the driver sped away. Officers on the ground kept sight of the car until the police helicopter moved into position.
The car was tracked from Nashville to I-24 to the Old Hickory Boulevard exit just shy of the Rutherford County line. The driver, John Lewis, 19, of John A. Merritt Boulevard, ultimately stopped in the 800 block of Battle Road, got out and tried to flee on foot. Ground officers stopped Lewis and took him into custody without incident.
His girlfriend was not seriously hurt in the earlier altercation.
Lewis is facing charges of aggravated kidnapping, reckless endangerment, evading arrest by motor vehicle, driving without a license, and leaving the scene of a property damage crash for hitting another car in South Nashville. A male passenger in the car with Lewis is not being charged.
