_ 3936 Ringgold Rd.: Police were called to the Save-A-Lot on June 29 in regards to an assault. According to an affidavit of complaint, officers spoke with the manager who told them that a man had attempted to steal meat from the store. When the manager confronted the man, he gave the items back. The report states that the manager and the man began to argue and suspect pulled a knife and told the manager that he would cut him. The suspect then took off on foot. Officers located the man a few blocks away from the store. The report states that the man did not comply with officers’ commands and was “verbally combative.” Officers took the man into custody and identified him as Cedric Dickens, 48, of a Vine Street address in Chattanooga. It was discovered that Dickens is currently on probation for series of misdemeanor and felony theft. Dickens was charged with Aggravated Assault and Theft under $500. He is due to appear in East Ridge Municipal Court on July 5.

_ 6116 Ringgold Rd.: Last week, police were dispatched to a rolling disorder involving a silver Dodge Neon and a maroon Chevrolet Lumina. According to an affidavit of complaint, the Chevy was following the Dodge headed toward the East Ridge Flea Market. An officer went to the flea market and was flagged down by a man who said that two cars came through there and that a person in one of the cars told him that someone in the other car was trying to kill them. Police were told that the vehicles involved in the disorder were on their way to the East Ridge Police Department. The report states that officers encountered the Dodge driven by a woman and occupied by her two-year-old son and another pregnant woman. The driver of the Dodge told officers that she went to her son’s father’s house in Rossville and picked the boy up. The father, the report states, began following the Dodge. When the Dodge was stopped on Prater Road near Ringgold Road, the father of the boy, later identified as 19-year-old Joseph Russell Chastain, pulled up alongside them in the opposite lane and sideswiped the vehicle. The woman told officers that she turned east and Chastain continued to follow them to a gas station. The report states that officers observed extensive damage on both sides of the Dodge. The woman told police that Chastain has a history of violence against her. 

The report states that Chastain told officers that he believed his son was getting kidnapped. Chastain said he did not recognize the Dodge and didn’t know who was driving it at the time, but recognized his estranged wife once he got alongside the car. Chastain told police that the first collision was his fault but it was an accident as he was trying to dial 911. Chastain said his estranged wife hit his Chevy during a second collision. The report states that dispatch reported that Chastain called in stating that his child’s mother and grandmother came in to get the child while Chastain was getting dressed. Chastain told dispatchers that he was following the vehicle. The report states that the dispatcher noted that Chastain was crying hysterically. It also states that Chastain was crying while speaking with officers and advised that he might be having a panic attack.

Chastain was charged with Aggravated Domestic Assault and three counts of Reckless Endangerment. He is due in Municipal court on July 5.