TBI says Former police officer made threats
A former Cleveland police officer allegedly gave false reports and made threats toward current city police officers leading to charges filed by the TBI of filing false reports.
Taylor Elexis Ryans, 28, is being held without bond pending a court hearing. She faces a charge of filing a false report, according to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation news release.
Officials with the state agency said Ryans was working as an airport police officer, but the employing agency was not identified by authorities.
The district attorney’s office requested the state agency investigate on Monday, the news release states.
“During the course of the investigation, agents developed information that Taylor Ryans made the threats and false reports and then drove to the Cleveland Police Department,” agency spokesperson Susan Niland said in the release. “She left that location and was ultimately located in Chattanooga.”
Ryans was arrested when she was released from the hospital Monday evening, Niland said.
The incident led to a soft lockdown Monday at all Cleveland City Schools, according to a Cleveland Police Department news release from spokesperson Lt. Evie West.
The former Cleveland officer, who was an officer at the Chattanooga Airport, “made threats to harm several members of the Cleveland Police Department throughout the night on Sunday,” West said in the release.
The calls continued into Monday, and Ryans was allegedly seen parked in front of the Police Services building and was seen driving around the building early Monday, West said.
“There were no specific threats made toward city or county schools. Law enforcement were the only recipients of the threats of violence,” West said.
Contacted Tuesday by email, Chattanooga Airport spokesperson Albert Waterhouse declined to provide Ryans’ employment status and referred all questions to the TBI.