Passenger runs from Cheatham County authorities after car stopped for tint violation
CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Running from the law usually doesn’t lead to anything good. A Pegram man learned this the hard way because of a Cheatham County deputy who was just a little bit faster on foot.
It all unfolded Tuesday, March 26 when a member of the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office pulled over a car near Jackson Felts Road. The deputy stopped the Dodge Charger for a window tint violation. As it turned out the car, also had a license plate belonging to another car.
Deputy Josh Wilson asked the driver and the passenger — identified as 22-year-old Jesse Coffey Jr. and 25-year-old Thomas Boyd, respectively — to get out of the car. Body camera footage captured the interaction between the suspects and law enforcement.
“Before y’all start reaching in your pockets, y’all ain’t got any guns or nothing like that on you, do you?” the deputy asked
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The men indicated they had no weapons.
“You worried about me finding something? You look nervous, that’s why I’m asking,” the deputy said.
Coffey admitted there could be contraband in the car, saying, “Maybe a roach or something, but I don’t think there’s nothing in there.”
“So there’s a chance there’s a roach in there?” the deputy replied. “You smoke pot?”
“No, I don’t, but my girlfriend does,” Coffey stated.
When the deputy asked the passenger for his name, he initially lied and said his name was Chase Boyd instead of Thomas Boyd.
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“Chase, you’re not wanted, are you?” the deputy inquired.
The deputy searched the car and found Boyd’s ID on the floor board. That’s when the 25-year-old took off running into the nearby tree line, but there was a slight decline, so the suspect fell and the deputy pounced on him. Following a brief scuffle, the deputy was able to handcuff Boyd, telling him later that running was not smart.
Law enforcement found a meth pipe in Boyd’s pocket, so they asked him if he was on anything.
“A little bit of both,” Boyd replied.
“What, meth and heroin? How much?” a deputy questioned
“Not a lot,” Boyd answered.
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Authorities discovered Boyd was on probation with the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) for a drug offense in 2020.
According to TDOC, Boyd was sentenced to community corrections in May 2022. He was convicted of a Schedule I drug charge from February 2020 out of Cheatham County and sentenced to eight years of community corrections — which expires in May 2030 — rather than prison because he was considered a non-violent offender.
Officials said community corrections is like probation, but it’s not under TDOC supervision. It’s a community-based alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders.
Once the deputies learned about Boyd’s history, they told him his new charges would seriously jeopardize his probationary status with the court.
“You’re going to get violated for running, violated for paraphernalia,” one of the deputies said.
According to authorities, Boyd was charged with criminal impersonation, resisting arrest, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Meanwhile, Coffey was charged with driving on a revoked license, window tint violation, improper use of registration, and financial responsibility.
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