An ordinary trip to the grocery store turned eventful for some shoppers and store employees Wednesday night.
Elizabethton Police Department officers arrested Brady N. Hill, 23, 137 Paul Blevins Road, Roan Mountain, on multiple charges after police were told he had damaged merchandise and tried to attack a manager at Food City.
Hill was charged with disorderly conduct, public intoxication, simple possession/casual exchange and aggravated criminal trespassing.
EPD officers James Sexton, Jordan Ensor and Art Smithdeal were dispatched to the business shortly after 9:30 p.m. in response to a report of a disorderly person in the store.
But Sexton wrote that the initial call saying the man was intoxicated and vandalizing merchandise was upgraded to an emergency call when witnesses said the subject was fighting another person inside the grocery store.
Sexton said in the report that was emphasized when the officers arrived at the store: he said he was met by several employees “who were pointing inside saying ‘Get in there quick.’”
“Once inside, I observed a male subject screaming at a store manager,” Sexton wrote in the arrest report. “The subject, later identified as Brady N. Hill, was very aggressive with the manager and was screaming obscenities.”
Sexton said he asked Hill what was going on, and that Hill responded “(Expletive) you! Take me.”
Sexton said that while talking with Hill, the man continued to “scream and curse” and smelled of alcohol. The officer also said he also found a pill bottle containing a blue pill identified as diazepam, or Valium.
According to the report, store managers told officers they repeatedly told Hill to leave the store but he refused, which led them to call 911. Sexton said Hill was also accused of acting aggressively toward a female manager, lunging at her and prompting other employees to grab him before he could reach her.
“Hill’s presence in the store was without the effective owner’s consent, and he put those inside the store in fear with his reckless and aggressive behavior,” Sexton wrote.
Managers told Sexton they would file vandalism charges against Hill for the damage they said he caused to store merchandise. According to the report, management told officers Hill ran “up and down an aisle pulling merchandise, valued at less than $500, from the shelves. Most of the merchandise was damaged or destroyed.”
Sexton said Hill continued to display erratic behavior while in custody at the Carter County jail.
According to the arrest report, he spat on the floor and chairs until instructed to stop, then refused to remove his shoes when instructed to do so. Sexton wrote that also backed away from staff who were attempting to search him.
“Hill, who was still in my custody, was told to sit down by the CCDC staff but he refused,” Sexton wrote. “I then told Hill to sit down or he would be sprayed with a chemical agent. Hill complied and sat down.”
A few moments later, Hill reportedly stood once again and began screaming and cursing officers. He was once again threatened with the spray and Sexton said he responded “(Expletive) you! Spray me!”
Hill was administered a 1-second hit of spray which subdued him, but Sexton said he once again became disruptive and cursed and screamed. According to the report, his resistance became active and he had to be physically contained with a knee-strike to the thigh.
“Hill stopped resisting and was compliant from that point forward with the exception of verbal outbursts,” Sexton wrote.
Hill is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 23.