Clarksville, TN – On Wednesday, October 26th, 2022 at approximately 3:37pm, Clarksville Police Department officers responded to PetSmart, 2784 Wilma Rudolph Blouvedar.after an 80-year-old male reported that he was hit in the head with a gun by two black males who robbed him of his 2013 Dodge Charger.
The vehicle was located on Jack Miller Boulevard approximately 50 minutes after the reported carjacking. CPD officers attempted to stop the vehicle and the driver sped off which led to a pursuit involving numerous CPD officers, Oak Grove Police Department, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s helicopter.
The 15-year-old already has an extensive criminal history that started in December of 2020, which includes nine separate charges of theft of a motor vehicle, one charge of unlawful carry/possession of a deadly weapon, and has been reported as an unruly or runaway juvenile on eight separate occasions.
The 14-year-old doesn’t have an extensive history, but has been reported as a runaway four times and has been charged with simple possession. Detectives have identified a third 15-year-old juvenile that they believe was involved in this incident.
They believe he dropped off the other two juveniles to commit the carjacking while driving a different stolen vehicle. He does have a criminal history involving two separate charges of theft of a motor vehicle, runaway, and domestic assault. The third juvenile is pending further charges.
Clarksville Police Department’s Chief of Police David Crockarell stated:
“I want to thank the members of the Clarksville Police Department, the Oak Grove Police Department, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, who risked their lives yesterday to apprehend two violent children who are not being monitored. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the victim of such a violent act committed by juveniles without care or concern for others. We are here for you and we will do what we can to bring you justice”.
“The disturbing and most concerning part of this incident is that these children are not strangers to the juvenile justice system. It is necessary that the courts hold the parents and/or guardians accountable in addition to the habitual/repeat offender. But the problem goes beyond that, the lack of a juvenile holding facility in Montgomery County is a prevalent issue.”
“The Montgomery County Sheriff is unable to house them locally, so we are forced to use other agencies’ juvenile facilities to house these offenders. All too often, juvenile court officers have difficulties finding “space” or “beds” for juveniles that need to be detained and held in a confinement facility.”
“Last night was no different, there were no available “beds”, but due to the nature of the crime, the Clarksville Police Department was requested by the court to monitor these children in our office building while waiting to appear before a judge this morning. They ended up having to sleep on the floor of our interview room”.
“The safety of the citizens of Clarksville is our priority and requires the officers to be available to patrol the streets. The added responsibility of taking care of a juvenile due to the lack of a “bed” takes away from their necessary duties. The responsibility to feed these children and try to make them as comfortable as possible on our concrete floor while they wait for an appearance before the court goes beyond the scope of duties and responsibilities of the Clarksville Police Department.”
“This must change immediately; the community needs to reach out to their elected official seeking their support for a juvenile detention facility that is local. The Clarksville Police Department and my professional employees cannot do it alone.”
The victim is doing well, Montgomery County EMS transported him to Tennova Healthcare shortly after the robbery occurred, and he was treated and released the same day. The victim has requested that the media respect his privacy.
This is still an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information or additional video footage is asked to please contact Detective Billotte at 931.648.0656, ext. 5694.
