DICKSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – It was a wild scene in Dickson County when a suspected drug dealer almost ran over an officer after being tased. It happened last Friday around 9:20 a.m. on Interstate 40 West in Dickson. That’s when Darrin Adams, a supervising agent with the 23rd Judicial Drug Task Force, pulled over a Nissan Maxima for improper display of license plates. The driver, Ashley Bass, was reportedly cooperative, but officers say her 31-year-old boyfriend and father of her three children was acting suspiciously. “The individuals were nervous. He was standoffish,” Adams told News 2. Dash cam video shows both Atlanta natives out of the car as the man, Gregory Bates, tapes the traffic stop on his cell phone. The video shows a K-9 alerting to what investigators say is the presence of narcotics; Bates reportedly disputes what the dog is alerting to. Officers tell him to stand by while they search the car, but as they open the passenger door, Bates runs to driver’s side door and gets in. Adams then shoots Bates with a Taser, hitting him in the chest. On the dash cam, Bates is heard screaming but manages to get the car in gear and drive away. “I was about to open the passenger door. He knew I was going to find the drugs. He almost ran me over and forced me into oncoming traffic,” the officer told News 2.
Within seconds, other task force officers iniated a pursuit with speeds reaching around 90 mph. That’s when things get dicey. As the Atlanta man speeds wildly, weaving through traffic, cutting off cars, and driving on the shoulder of the road, he throws something out the window. Investigators say it was bags of cocaine, which hit the police car giving chase. Drug agents say Bates then dumps possibly a pound of cocaine, which also splashes onto the police cruiser’s windshield. It was so much cocaine the officer has to use his windshield wipers to clear his view.
Eventually Bate’s speed and erratic driving is deemed too dangerous and the chase is called off. Police go back to search for the dumped cocaine, but the wind, rain, traffic, and miles the chase traveled made retrieving that evidence impossible. But officers did swab the front of the police car that was covered with bits of cocaine, and the vehicle tests positive for the drug. In the end, Ashley Bass was arrested in connection with the crime and charged with possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine. She remains in Dickson County jail. There are now multiple felony warrants out for Gregory Bates, including aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, possession of a schedule II drug, felony evading arrest, reckless endangerment, and resisting arrest. News 2 was also told the bag of cocaine he dumped could be worth more than $30,000.
