Carjacking suspect charged with robbery and kidnapping
A man accused of hijacking a Chattanooga public bus and robbing one of its passengers Sunday faces charges of kidnapping, carjacking and robbery, police said Wednesday.
Chadrick Weaver, 45, boarded the CARTA bus on Brainerd Road shortly after 12 a.m. Sunday, according to a police report. A witness told police Weaver only had $1 and asked another passenger for 50 cents before going to the back of the bus.
While on the bus, the affidavit states, Weaver pulled out a 20-gauge shotgun, a gun typically used for hunting small game, from his jacket and pointed it at people trying to board. The bus driver told police the people fled when they saw the shotgun, according to the affidavit.
Weaver then allegedly directed the driver to go down Market Street and pointed the shotgun at a passenger on the bus before taking her backpack, the report states. The witness said, according to the report, that Weaver threatened to kill her and the driver.
The driver told police that Weaver instructed him to run red lights, drive faster and not to drop off passengers. According to the affidavit, the driver wasn’t able to answer his radio to speak to dispatchers while Weaver was reportedly commandeering the bus.
“The dispatch system for that bus driver wasn’t able to reach him, so they activated their camera system, which allowed them to see what was going on,” Chattanooga Assistant Chief Glenn Scruggs said at a news conference Wednesday.
After police cars appeared behind the bus, the affidavit states, Weaver reportedly placed the shotgun behind a seat and got off the bus.
Police arrested Weaver on 10th Street in downtown Chattanooga. He is charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, carjacking and two firearm offenses. Weaver is in custody at Silverdale Detention Center on a $75,000 bond and is set to appear in court Tuesday.
“We’re glad no one got injured, including the suspect,” Scruggs said.
There has been a string of carjackings, many involving stolen guns, in the Chattanooga area since the start of the year.
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp said at a news conference last month that her office plans to crack down on gun theft by pushing for offenders to serve the minimum six-month jail sentence that comes with the charge. Wamp also said she’s planning a public awareness billboard campaign to discourage residents from storing guns in their cars.
In January, two separate groups of three teenagers were arrested in connection with a carjacking. The same month, two men reportedly carjacked a prisoner transport van with one juvenile passenger in Marion County and led officers on a chase into downtown Chattanooga. One of the men was also charged in connection with a shooting in Ooltewah reported hours before the carjacking.
In February, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man in a connection with an attempted carjacking after reports he had tried to enter a woman’s car on Dolly Pond Road and hit her driverside window.