The Associated Press

July 10, 2003

MOUNT JULIET, Tenn.- Mount Juliet Police Sgt. Jerry Mundy and Wilson County Sheriff's Deputy John Musice hoped their quick work would bring a high-speed police chase to a sudden end.

The two lawmen had placed a spike strip across Interstate 40 and moved off the road near their vehicles, waiting for a stolen 1986 Mercedes-Benz to appear. It soon did, but tried to avoid the spike and veered off the road, striking and killing the two officers instantly. Mundy was 43, Musice 49.

A law enforcement vehicle also was hit.

The incident ended a 30-minute chase that actually began Wednesday morning in Knoxville. It left the two officers dead, the 21-year-old female driver of the car in jail and her passenger in the hospital.

"(The officers) did it by the book and these people came along and attacked them," a visibly upset Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe said during a news conference at the top of the interstate ramp. "This is a really sad day. We lost two really fine officers today."

The accident, about 25 miles east of Nashville at exit 226, happened at about 9:50 a.m. CDT. It ended a chase that began with a report of a reckless vehicle in Cookeville, authorities said.

Reports show the car reached speeds up to 100 mph in Putnam County, The Daily Times of Maryville reported.

Officers from Lebanon, Wilson County and Mount Juliet began pursuit when a check of the license plate indicated the vehicle was stolen Sunday from Maryville in East Tennessee.

"Both officers were on foot beside their parked vehicles when they were struck by the speeding automobile. Both were dead at the scene," Mount Juliet city manager Rob Shearer said in a statement.

Two suspects, both female, were in the car that hit the officers, said Beth Tucker Womack, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol. They were taken by helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, hospital spokesman John Howser said.

The driver of the vehicle was identified by authorities as Fallon Tallent, 21, of Maryville. She was released from the hospital and taken into custody.

Tommy Thompson, 15th Judicial District attorney general, said the case would go to a special grand jury session Friday, The Lebanon Democrat reported.

Tallent, who has a long criminal history, is being held in isolation in the Wilson County Jail on charges from Knox County that include aggravated assault, driving with a revoked license and reckless endangerment.

Ashe said Tallent had given a statement to investigators.

"She's aware of what happened and what's involved," Ashe told WSMV-TV of Nashville.

The passenger, 33-year-old Dorothy Cash, of Knoxville, remains at Vanderbilt in stable condition. It is not clear if she will face any charges.

Tallent's encounter with law enforcement began at 8:22 a.m. EDT in Knoxville. She rammed patrol officer Blake Barham's car when he confirmed the car was stolen and pulled behind it in a parking lot, said Knoxville police spokesman Darrell DeBusk. The officer chased Tallent at speeds up to 65 mph for less than two miles before a supervisor called off the pursuit, Debusk said.

Authorities in Blount and Knox counties were familiar with Tallent, and officers knew they could find her later, he said.

"We knew who she was and we didn't want to risk harming others," he said.

Ashe said using spike strips is "the best system we've got" to stop a vehicle in a high-speed chase. He said the officers put the spike strips down properly.

About 10 minutes after the crash, Chattanooga Police Chief Jimmie Dotson was at a previously scheduled news conference explaining his department's "no pursuit" policy, which began Tuesday.

The purpose of the policy is that "in nearly every circumstance the potential risk is much higher that the potential reward," department spokesman Ed Buice said in a statement released after the Mount Juliet accident.

Wednesday's incident was similar to an incident last month in Vermont. A state trooper placing a spike strip was struck by a vehicle driven by a man who fled a police stop.

Ashe described the two officers as "seasoned" and "well-trained." He said Musice worked under him for about 15 years, turning down promotions to desk jobs numerous times because he wanted to work patrol.

Nick Nance, 27, a reserve officer with the Mount Juliet Police Department, said the news of Mundy's death was hard to take. Mundy was a 13-year veteran, and the first Mount Juliet officer killed in the line of duty in the 31-year history of the department.

"He was a good man, very honest. Anything you needed he'd do it for you. Those aren't words. That's the kind of man he was," Nance said as he kept traffic from entering I-40.

Womack and Ashe said investigators would determine the speeds reached during the chase.

Ashe, a former prosecutor in Wilson County, said the district attorney would decide what charges would be brought in the case. But he hoped for the maximum.

"I'm looking at first-degree murder," he said.

Tallent twice had Knox County charges of reckless driving and evading arrest dismissed in spring 2002, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported. In March, she had a theft charge dismissed.

In 2001, Tallent was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture, deliver, sell or possess a controlled substance. She also was convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia, driving with a revoked license and criminal impersonation, record show.

More than 20 emergency vehicles responded to the crash, which closed the three westbound lanes of the interstate.

At midday, a THP helicopter was flying over debris littered across several lanes, and the suspects' car with a badly damaged front end was on the shoulder.

Just before the officers' bodies were removed from I-40, law enforcement authorities on the scene gathered near a fire truck for a brief memorial service.