An Elizabethton man faces multiple charges after police say he stalked a neighbor and assaulted officers who attempted to take him into custody.
Officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Sammy Richardson, 67, 328 S. Cedar Ave., Elizabethton, on a warrant charging him with stalking. Officers additionally charged Richardson with two counts of assault and resisting arrest.
On Wednesday, EPD Sgt. Chris Bowers of the Criminal Investigations Division said he was assigned a case involving the conduct of Richardson toward a woman who lives near him. The incidents date back to June of this year, Bowers said.
As part of his investigation, Bowers noted several 911 calls made by Richardson and the woman he is reported to have stalked. On two occasions, Bowers said, Richardson called 911 to report a domestic disturbance at the woman’s home that later turned out to be unfounded.
In one instance, the woman told officers Richardson had a recording of her and her friends at her home. She told officers Richardson said he had heard from other people that she was in love with him.
In October, the woman also told officers Richardson had left notes on her door, one of which included her cell phone number, and she also received a letter in the mail she suspected was from him. “She said Richardson had confronted her about loving him,” Bowers said.
Bowers notes in a court document that an investigator with the EPD followed up on the October incident “by speaking to Richardson and informing him (the woman) is not in love with him, to leave her alone and the consequences of calling 911 for false claims.”
Bowers said on Wednesday he was made aware of another incident involving the woman finding another note, which she suspects came from Richardson. The woman also reported the maintenance man an her home found the lock to the crawl space that goes under her home had been broken and she was concerned Richardson may go underneath her home to listen to her.
“Due to the totality of the course of conduct of harassment, unsolicited notes, suspicious activity around (the woman’s) apartment, (the woman’s) emotional distress, and calls to police for false claims of domestic incidents occurring at (the woman’s home), I am requesting Sammy Richardson face charges of stalking,” Bowers wrote in an affidavit to the court.
On Thursday, Bowers called for another officer with the department to assist him in placing Richardson under arrest on the warrant he had obtained and EPD Officer Joe Holsclaw responded.
“As I went to detain Mr. Richardson he began resisting, stating he was not going anywhere, and as I grabbed his arm to gain compliance he began trying to pull away from me and Sgt. Bowers and was able to get a can of pepper spray from his pocket,” Holsclaw said. “Mr. Richardson sprayed the pepper spray, hitting my hand and vehicle.”
As officers struggled with Richardson to place him under arrest, Holsclaw said he suffered an injury to one of his fingers and Bowers suffered a laceration to his hand.
After officers took Richardson into custody, he was taken to the Carter County Detention Center where he remains held on a $15,000 bond.