Former state House candidate arrested
Former Tennessee District 28 House candidate Brandon Woodruff was arrested on gun and drug charges Saturday night.
Woodruff, 26, was pulled over shortly after 9:15 p.m. on East 37th Street for allegedly crossing the center line several times while driving a vehicle with an expired registration, according to an arrest affidavit.
The officer smelled a “strong odor of air freshener (cherry),” according to the affidavit. Woodruff allegedly held up a bottle BluntPower brand air freshener and said he had just sprayed it.
When asked, Woodruff told the officer there was a gun in the glove box. The officer had Woodruff and a female passenger get out of the
car while another officer searched the vehicle.
The officers found a partially smoked blunt, the loaded gun in the glove box, another loaded gun in a duffel bag, a box containing “a baggie with weed residue” and $867 in cash, according to the affidavit.
Woodruff was charged with possessing a firearm with intent to go armed, possession of a handgun while under the influence, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and for driving an unregistered vehicle.
The passenger was issued a misdemeanor citation for simple possession.
Woodruff ran unsuccessfully in 2018 for the District 28 seat to replace the retiring Joanne Favors. The seat, which represents much of Chattanooga, was ultimately won by former Chattanooga councilman Yusuf Hakeem.