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Wlaf1450LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – Sgt. Noah Riggs and a team of La Follette Police Officers got their man, and in the process, broke up an alleged drug operation. Tuesday around 2:30pm, Riggs had an outstanding warrant for Patrick Chitwood when he went to pick him up.
Riggs went to the Ridgeview Apartments, at the corner of East Central and North Tennessee Avenues to Chitwood’s second floor apartment. Chitwood lived in apartment 208 with his mother, Debra Chitwood, and her boyfriend Michael Sloman according to the report.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Ridgeview Apartments, as referenced on record in the La Follette Police report, is not associated with Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services. A detailed explanation is further down this page in the comments section.
Riggs came down a hallway and spotted Patrick Chitwood, 41, sitting on a couch, and when Patrick Chitwood saw the sergeant and LPD Officer Shane Tielman, he jumped up and ran toward a back bedroom as Sloman attempted to shut the door in the officers’ faces, the report said. Riggs kicked open the door as Sloman and Debra Chitwood were in the living room while Patrick Chitwood was attempting to jump out the window of the upper floor back bedroom. Riggs and Tielman were able to grab Patrick’s ankles to keep him from falling to the sidewalk below. Officers struggled but were able to pull Patrick Chitwood to safety.
Once officers were able to pull Patrick Chitwood back into the room, he began to fight with officers based on the report from the LPD. With multiple weapons within arms reach of Chitwood, officers continued to brawl with the suspect. After a lengthy fight, officers used force by pepper spray and a baton to gain control of Patrick Chitwood.
First responders were called to tend to Chitwood and other officers. Patrick Chitwood was taken to the La Follette Medical Center where he was treated, released and then arrested and transported to the Campbell County Jail at Jacksboro.
Multiple amounts of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia were confiscated from the home. In the living room area where officers first saw the Chitwoods and Sloman, a large bag of a crystal-like substance in plain view, believed to be meth, was recovered. All three suspects denied that the bag belonged to them.
Also located in the search was a set of digital scales and many plastic bags with the corners cut out of the baggies. From a dresser drawer, a yellow plastic container with two other baggies with a crystal-like substance and another set of digital scales were found. The crystal-like substance weighed 13 grams, according to Riggs.
Debra Chitwood and Sloman, 52, were also arrested. All three suspects have been arrested previous times as reported by officials at the county jail.
Patrick Chitwood faces charges of DUI (driving under the influence – 1st offense), evading arrest, resisting arrest, meth for resale, possession of drug paraphernalia and assault on a police officer. Debra Chitwood, 62, said to be the manager of Ridgeview Apartments, is jailed on charges of schedule II drugs – manufacture, deliver, sell and possession of drug paraphernalia. Sloman’s charges include resisting arrest, possession of schedule II for resale and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The three suspects remain housed in the county jail this morning and are due in court Nov. 4. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 10/07/2021-6AM)
Good morning, pleased be advised that this location has no connection or involvement with Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services. We have not provided any services from this location in over a year. We’re concerned that misrepresenting the location as “Ridgeview Apartments” incorrectly attributes us as having some level of involvement. This labeling also further confuses our Ridgeview Recovery Housing as somehow having involvement with this situation. We kindly ask that a clarification be made; your correction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.