A sheriff’s office in Tennessee says the driver of a box truck that was heard playing suspicious audio at a convenience store outside Nashville Sunday has been booked into jail on felony charges. But authorities say it didn’t have explosives. Was this some sort of sick joke?
Heightened security after Nashville bombing
The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office says members of a church and customers at the nearby market where the white box truck was spotted in Lebanon, about 25 miles east of Nashville, heard the driver playing audio “similar to what was heard” before a recreational vehicle exploded in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day.
Because of those actions, driver James Turgeon, 33, of Holly Grove Road near Murfeesboro was charged with two counts of felony filing a false report and one count of tampering with evidence Sunday night by lead Sheriff’s Detective Joseph Duncan. Detective Sgt. Steve Craig said patrol deputies responded to a call of the driver playing the audio loudly outside the Crossroads Market in Walter Hill.
“During the course of the investigation, it was revealed Turgeon made a similar announcement at King’s Chapel Independent Missionary Baptist Church at Jefferson Pike and Dunaway Chapel Road while church was in service,” Craig said.
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Lebanon Tennessee box truck arrest
Sheriff’s deputies from Wilson and Rutherford County and the Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped Turgeon who was driving in Wilson County. He was detained for questioning.
Lt. Bill Miller of the Tennessee Highway Patrol said THP’s Special Operations Unit used a robot to check the truck. “No device was detected,” Miller said.
Spokesman Michael Knight of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said certified explosives specialists and resources from ATF’s National Center for Explosives Training and Research worked with the Tennessee Highway Patrol at the scene.
Craig said detectives found Turgeon allegedly damaged the speaker system wiring intentionally, resulting in the tampering with evidence charge. Turgeon was booked into Rutherford County Adult Detention Center.
