A Johnson City man who apparently thought he had outstanding criminal charges climbed onto a building roof after he was stopped for speeding and held police at bay nearly three hours.
Tommy Garland, 39, finally climbed down off the two-story part of the roof of the Emergency Management Agency building on East Maple Street, then jumped off the single level flat roof after police broke through a window leading onto that section.
JCPD Capt. Debbie Botelho said Garland injured his ankle when he jumped “a very short distance.”
He was transported by ambulance to the Johnson City Medical Center for treatment.
During the standoff, Garland told police he wanted to talk to his wife, so officers went to get her, Botelho said. It still took more than two hours to get Garland to come down even after several family members arrived and talked to him.
“He never threatened to jump. He just refused to come down,” Botelho said.
More than a dozen police officers, two fire truck crews and several EMS personnel stood by as a police crisis negotiator tried to talk Garland down. Several times Garland could be heard saying he didn’t want to go to jail, and it’s unclear if he was ever convinced there were no charges pending.
Botelho said it all started around 9 a.m. with an attempted traffic stop for speeding on Interstate 26. Garland, who was driving the car, exited onto Main Street, then pulled over, got out and ran. Garland ran in the direction of the EMA building, climbed a fence and then got onto the roof.
“He was very upset. He thought if he came down he was going to jail,” Botelho said.
That’s still a possibility. Botelho said there are potential “future charges” against Garland.
justmyopinion2012 writes:
November 16, 2012
12:05 PM
One should always be cognizant of what charges he or she has pending.
2ndopinion writes:
November 16, 2012
2:18 PM
Touché
DrPat writes:
November 16, 2012
2:23 PM
I agree with the previous comments, but I expect a lawsuit against the police for causing him to jump.
jcresident writes:
November 16, 2012
6:28 PM
He can file a lawsuit, but he is wasting his money. The police did nothing wrong in any way. We need to support our police instead of blaming them for a man jumping off a building.
mmmmmm writes:
November 16, 2012
10:41 PM
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
stilldoingit writes:
November 17, 2012
1:22 PM
Suggestion for JCPD: the next time you are confronted with a similar situation, just send all your cops back to what they are supposed to be doing and call AnselAdams. He can bring the suspect a pizza, a blanket to stay warm, and sing him some lullabies until he's ready to come down. You might want to keep the rescue squad close by though; the altitude might cause AA's bleeding heart to act up.
justmyopinion2012 writes:
November 17, 2012
6:36 PM
Lol stilldoingit! DrPat, I certainly hope you are not serious. The idiot on the roof and the idiot only is responsible. The police were there to try to talk him down. If he wasn't speeding, he wouldn't have had a "run in". He thought he had charges pending which indicates this isn't his first encounter with police. Don't blame the police for doing their job and protecting us. I'm with you jcresident, although I know there are times when the police are in the wrong, I'll support them over criminals any day.
stilldoingit writes:
November 17, 2012
11:21 PM
Another suggestion to JCPD: just chase the next criminal that runs from you onto Ansel's rooftop. Since he knows how to do your job better than you do, you won't have to stick around. That is, unless your cops want him to use his psychic powers to tell them where they're from and what they're political party affiliation is.
boo writes:
November 20, 2012
2:53 PM
Some explain how does it become the police's fault- a dummy climbed a roof top to get away? Or jumped from the roof? _ to me that sound insane. He must have thought he was going to get time for something, to take such actions to get away from the police. Now instead of a ticket- he is actually facing charges!! Only criminals would blame the police for something like this- then again.. Criminals always blame someone dont they?
Kalee88 writes:
November 20, 2012
3:16 PM
This sounds like an episode of "world's dumbest criminals" Ha Ha Ha Ha
Fizz writes:
November 20, 2012
3:58 PM
AnselAdams you are wasting your breath. There is a stubborn steak of willful ignorance and authority worship here that goes hand in hand with their intolerant, exclusivist religion. I cannot wait until I can get out of this trash heap again.
stilldoingit writes:
November 20, 2012
4:41 PM
Let me see if I have this straight. Since the majority of posters prefer to hold accountable the person actually responsible for initiating this incident, we are automatically labeled as:
- East Tennesseans
- members of the Tea Party
- authority worshipers
- stubborn
- willfully ignorant (I guess thats than innately ignorant)
- intolerant
- exclusivists
- church-goers
Your ability to take a miniscule amount of information and arrive at such a descriptive synopsis of the pro-personal accountability posters is astounding. Might I suggest you apply for jobs at the next Appalachian Fair. You guys could make a mint guessing peoples' weights.
provided.