Scoop: Nashville

Crime & Arrests

Music City Bar staff punch out unruly customer James Riter & drag him outside to wait for police

July 23, 20221 min read jsteen

37-year-old James Riter was visiting the Music City Bar & Grill in the early hours of Friday morning when staff say he began harassing customers. As staff attempted to escort him off the property, he swung at staff members in an attempt to hit them. A staff member avoided his punch, and in return, punched Riter in the face and then drug him outside the bar, where police say they found him still “mostly unresponsive” upon their arrival. The bar staff didn’t wish to prosecute for the assault, feeling they had resolved the situation before officers arrived. Nashville Fire Medics began to evaluate Riter when he became belligerent and refused treatment. Metro Nashville Police charged him with public intoxication.

Crime & Arrests

Keosha Higgins charged after cappin’ about her identity to police during traffic stop

July 22, 20221 min read jsteen

24-year-old Keosha Higgins was jailed this week on two outstanding citations from June 2021, charging her with criminal impersonation and driving on a suspended license. The citations came about during a traffic stop for a handsfree law violation in the Gulch during which she claimed to be “Triana Stratton” and provided a SSN that returned to a male’s identity. She eventually admitted she was using her cousin’s name and had a suspended license.

Crime & Arrests

Joseph ‘Joey’ Schwartz charged in drunken assault of employee at Jason Aldean’s Bar

July 22, 20221 min read jsteen

24-year-old tourist Joseph Joey Schwartz, from Maryland, found himself in the Metro Nashville Jail overnight when he attacked a Spanish-speaking cleaning employee at Jason Aldean’s bar overnight. The worker says he was mopping an upstairs bathroom at the downtown Nashville venue when Schwartz appeared and began blocking the doorway and preventing his free movement. He says Schwartz, who was extremely intoxicated, then began to beat the victim in his face, leaving him with multiple lacerations that required medical treatment. Schwartz was taken into custody and charged with assault and public intoxication, and given pre-trial release back to his home in Maryland.

Crime & Arrests

Samaria Johnson charged with theft of vibrator from Opry Mills Mall

July 21, 20221 min read jsteen

Metro Police say on June 9th, 21-year-old Samaria Johnson picked up an adult vibrator from Spencers at Opry Mills Mall and carried it out of the store without paying for it and was leaving the mall via a service hallway. Officers arrived at the shoplifting in progress call at 5:33 p.m. that Thursday and intercepted her as she was leaving the hallway and coming into parking lot 4. She had tossed the tickler in the hallway and walked the officer back to retrieve it.

Crime & Arrests

Fort Campbell soldier jailed over suspended license — Jordan Ashby

July 21, 20221 min read jsteen

Goodlettsville Police noticed a Kia Spectra a Drake Street and South Main with a light law violation and conducted a traffic stop on the driver, 20-year-old Fort Campbell Soldier Jordan Ashby. A check of his New York driver’s license revealed it to be suspended. Officer Noah Werner documented he made a physical arrest instead of a citation because the soldier was not a Tennessee resident.

Crime & Arrests

70-year-old Barbara Komisar ROR’d after assaulting a man over a refrigerator

July 21, 20221 min read jsteen

70-year-old Barbara Komisar left Allen Kelley bruised, according to court documents, after she entered his Bransford Avenue home while he was sleeping and pushed and grabbed at him. He states Komisar and her daughter were apparently upset with him about a refrigerator inside a residence which they were having issues with. Officers documented the photos of the victim’s injuries in the report.

Crime & Arrests

DUI: Nashville Firefighter Justin Blackburn says police shouldn’t arrest him, out of respect; just follow him home

July 21, 20222 min read jsteen

29-year-old Nashville Firefighter Justin Blackburn was driving 60 mph in a 40 mph zone on Dickerson Pike and swerving out of his lane multiple times as police pulled him over just before midnight Wednesday. Blackburn, who reeked of alcohol, made jokes about “eating cookies while driving,” denied drinking any alcohol, and later admitted his cookies joke wasn’t funny. After failing field sobriety tests, and as he was being placed into custody, Blackburn began to make it known he was a Nashville Fire Fighter and repeatedly stated he should be shown respect and the officer should just follow him home instead of arresting him.

Crime & Arrests

Shirley Saavedra indicted on cocaine delivery charge by Grand Jury

July 21, 20221 min read jsteen

A Davidson County Grand Jury has indicted 39-year-old Shirley Saavedra for delivering over 300 grams of cocaine in April of 2022. A true bill was returned on June 22, and Saavedra was taken into custody on Monday. Saavedra was recently approved by the Metro Council to be a Notary Public. She remains jailed in lieu of a $150,000 bond.

Crime & Arrests

Brandon Painter charged with DUI after West End crash

July 20, 20221 min read jsteen

38-year-old Brandon Painter was involved in a property crash on West End. As he spoke with responding officers, they say it became apparent Painter had been drinking as he smelled of alcohol. Painter admitted to drinking five alcoholic drinks within the hour before driving. After performing poorly on multiple field sobriety tests, Painter was charged with DUI.

Crime & Arrests

Nashville Police win showdown with St. Thomas Midtown Nurses in an attempt to arrest patient — Annie Moore

July 20, 20222 min read jsteen

Metro Nashville Police say a St. Thomas Midtown Emergency Department Nurse called officers to have her patient’s spouse arrested for assault, but when it became apparent the pregnant patient, 30-year-old Annie Moore, was the actual assailant, the Emergency Department nurses put a ‘social services’ delay on her discharge in an attempt to delay her arrest, with officers stating the nurses were upset they did not carry out the outcome they desired when they placed the call to police.

Crime & Arrests

MNPD Quickly responds to man snorting cocaine at downtown bar — Tristin Jackson arrested

July 20, 20221 min read jsteen

Metro Nashville Police responded to a call at the Lucky Bastard Saloon on Sunday about a man using cocaine in front of the bar. They arrived within moments to find 25-year-old Tristin Jackson, who fled inside when officers approached him and made contact. After a chase and struggle inside the venue, officers placed him into custody and seized a dollar bill with a small amount of what appeared to be cocaine remaining inside. He was charged with drug possession, resisting arrest, and evading arrest. The response time for this personal drug use call was near immediate. Jackson is a resident of Franklin.

Crime & Arrests

State Representative Torrey Harris jailed for assault of ex-boyfriend & theft of his dog

July 19, 20222 min read jsteen

31-year-old State Representative Torrey Harris is free on a $2,000 cash bond after being jailed Sunday on charges of domestic assault and vandalism. Court records show his ex-boyfriend, Terence Nealy, reported Torrey scratched his arm during a bear hug while attempting to prevent him from leaving his own apartment while discussing their prior relationship while dropping off Terence’s dog, which he had been pet-sitting. Terrence was eventually able to leave his apartment and returned when officers were present to discover that Torrey had taken his dog, his Playstation 5, a barstool, lamps, air pods, an apple watch, a TV mount, a MacBook Air, and a pair of white AirMax shoes. Police spoke to Representative Harris via phone and notified him he was on a bodycam recording; he then admitted to taking Terence’s dog but wanted to clarify all the other items he took were “gifts” he had bought for Terence. Harris is charged with domestic assault and felony theft.

Crime & Arrests

Joshua Gupton identified via his fingerprints as home intruder

July 18, 20222 min read jsteen

19-year-old Joshua Gupton was jailed this weekend on an outstanding warrant from June, charging him with aggravated criminal trespass. Metro Nashville Police initially responded to the home of Urjita Khera when she reported she was lying on her couch when she heard someone enter her residence through the side window of her home. When she stood up, it spooked the intruder, and they fled, closing the window behind them. Luckily, she had recently cleaned the windows, and investigators were able to pull a fresh set of prints from the glass. They came back to Joshua Upton, who had his spring on file from a juvenile arrest history of theft and residential burglaries. His home is only 1.2 miles from the victim’s residence, and her front door camera captures him walking up the front stairs and around the side of the home to the window.

Crime & Arrests

Beau Gamet attempts to ‘whip it out’ in the middle of downtown Nashville

July 18, 20221 min read jsteen

Metro Nashville Police Officers working the Entertainment District Initiative in downtown Nashville were near 3rd Ave South and the Pedestrian Bridge late Friday evening when they observed 38-year-old Beau Gamet begin to pull out his genitals and urinate where he stood, in the middle of other pedestrians. He was obviously intoxicated and was taken into custody for his own safety and charged with public intoxication.

Crime & Arrests

Ethan Schaaf spits blood on cops, appalled they told him to go home after fight downtown

July 18, 20222 min read jsteen

22-year-old Ethan Schaaf, the son of two prominent Paducah lawyers, and himself an aspiring lawyer, told Metro Nashville Police Officers, “Who are you telling to go home?!?” before shoving an officer and “landing a thick amount of bloody spit” on another officer once he was in custody.

Crime & Arrests

DUI: Corey ‘Bow Wow’ Bean crashes into house on way to visit female in North Nashville at 4 AM #BecauseIGotHigh

July 17, 20221 min read jsteen

37-year-old Corey Bean told police he was on his way to “visit a female” in North Nashville when he somehow crashed into a mailbox and a house on LaGrange Drive at 4 a.m. Wednesday, though he wasn’t sure how it happened. Though he admitted to drinking two shots of tequila around 11 p.m. the night before, officers say he and the vehicle reeked of marijuana and note he had red, droopy, bloodshot eyes upon their arrival. Officers located a roach and a bag of “Gusher” edibles inside the vehicle. Bean struggled to stay away on the way to the hospital, during the blood draw, and on the way to booking.