KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — Court records are revealing more details about what led to the case of a stolen garbage truck Monday and the subsequent police chase a Clinton man is accused of leading officers on.
General sessions dockets say Shawn Aaron White, 43, of Clinton stole a garbage truck at knifepoint, stabbed the driver and drove on Chapman Highway near E. Hendron Chapel Road around 6:55 a.m. before he ended in Sevier County.
The Knoxville officers were called to the scene of a carjacking on the 5100 block of Broadway near Fountain City, a docket says. A woman told police that she was traveling north on Broadway in her 2018 Nissan Sentra when White, who was in the passenger seat, became agitated because she did not turn left when he told her to. White then brandished a knife and told her to get out of the car and that he was going to kill her.
The victim pulled into a parking lot and attempted to disarm White, the docket says. The victim said that is when she was cut on both of her hands and White then put her in a “headlock” while the vehicle rolled away for a short period. Then, White allegedly let go of the victim and stole her car.
The Knoxville Police Department reported that White left the scene and the woman’s vehicle was found crashed in the downtown area.
Timestamps on the dockets say the chase in the garbage truck happened less than 20 minutes later, before ending in Sevierville on Dolly Parton Parkway.
According to the dockets, White was under the influence of “some sort of narcotic” when the officer writing the report met him at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. The officer wrote that he refused to talk to anyone, and medical staff said he was screaming that someone was trying to kill him when he arrived.
White was charged with aggravated assault, failure to exercise due care, DUI: first offense, leaving the scene of an accident, carjacking and second-degree attempted murder. According to court records, White was arraigned Tuesday morning and his bond hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
