Accused red light camera shooter speaks out

Accused red light camera shooter speaks out

By ANN KEIL
6 News Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Clifford Clark, the man accused of shooting a red light camera in November, says he's innocent.

Clark says he remembers the night of November 24-25 very clearly.

"I had come back from middle Tennessee and I had been shooting... I had dinner with a group of people downtown, pulled off to use the restroom, and got nailed," he says.

Clark says he thought he was getting pulled over for urinating in public, but instead he was arrested for shooting a red light camera

Knoxville police say Clark shot the camera at Broadway and I-640 around 2 a.m. November 25.

Investigators say hours earlier that same camera caught Clark running a red light.

"I was surprised that I was charged and also surprised people presumed guilt," Clark says.

He says he would have had nothing to gain from what he's accused of and no evidence that says he did it. "There isn't any discharging of firearms on any of the police video and no witnesses have come forward saying they saw anything."

Clark accuses Knoxville police of tampering with evidence after they found a rifle in his car.

He says he had been shooting paper targets in the woods earlier that day.

"All you have to do is make an example out of one person and maybe it was me," Clark says.

Clark admits he is now against the use of red light cameras but only became aware of the controversy around them after the incident.

"I think the public is really tired of the cameras, and they want someone to rise up and strike the cameras down, and I've filled that role vicariously for them, but they're going to be disappointed when I'm found not guilty," says Clark.

He says he's never received a red light camera ticket to this day.

His hearing is set for next week.  

Clark now faces felony vandalism and reckless endangerment charges.

The police report says officers heard gunshots and when they headed towards the area to investigate, they saw a van fleeing the area.

They made a traffic stop and Cliff Clark was inside.

He was arrested after they found a hunting rifle in his van.

The red light camera had been shot three times.

6 News contacted the Knoxville police tonight.

When we asked about the incident and the tampering claim, they could not comment because the investigation is ongoing.