Report: Man evades arrest, drives on sidewalk, backs toward officer

An Oak Ridge man fleeing from undercover agents at Walgreens on Tuesday allegedly drove on the sidewalk and accelerated backward toward a police investigator, forcing the officer to run between two vehicles to avoid being hit, according to Anderson County court records.

The alleged driver, Frederick R. Black, 28, of West Pasadena Lane, has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault and one count of evading arrest. He remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility on Thursday, and his bond has been set at $500,000.

In warrants filed Thursday, Oak Ridge Police Department Investigator A. Marvell Moore said he and other investigators with the 7th Judicial Crime Task Force of Anderson County were conducting a covert operation at Walgreens at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when they saw a wanted subject in a green Ford Expedition back into a parking space at the southwest corner of the building.

The two occupants of the vehicle remained inside, apparently waiting for someone, Moore said.

A short time later, a black Infinity pulled up beside the Expedition. The wanted person got out of the Expedition and into the Infinity, the warrants said. The CTF agents converged on the car with “emergency equipment on, displaying badges, and identifying ourselves as the police,” the warrants said.

Moore said Black first put the Infinity in reverse, attempting to flee, and then drove up on the sidewalk, turning left toward the entrance.

“Agents chased the vehicle on foot, requesting him to stop, but he refused to do so,” Moore said.

One agent reportedly held on to the driver’s door as Black tried to escape. Unable to do so, Black then allegedly put the vehicle in reverse and accelerated backward down the sidewalk, the warrants said.

“To avoid being struck, I had to run between two vehicles in the parking lot,” Moore said.

He said Black was able to maneuver his vehicle into the parking lot and flee, but later turned himself into police.

Black has a court appearance scheduled for 1 p.m. Dec. 6.