Memphis man fled traffic court leading to chase and shots fired by officer

Dallas Davis

Story by Press Reporter Shannon Taylor

On Sep. 19, Greenfield assistant Police Chief Danny Smith stopped Memphis resident Dallas Tyrone Davis in Greenfield for speeding.

Davis was driving a white Kia Sportage on Highway 45 and when the officer got to the car he could smell marijuana.

Davis stated that he had a bag of marijuana in the car and Smith retrieved the bag and found a small amount of Schedule VI drugs and a loaded 9MM firearm. Smith cited Davis for the Schedule VI and released him.

It was later determined after the stop that Davis was a convicted felon dating back to 2015 for theft of property in Shelby County and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

According to the incident report received, on Oct. 17 Davis appeared in Greenfield city court for a traffic citation and was advised of the warrant for his arrest. According to the incident report, after Davis was made aware, he fled on foot while being told to stop. Davis then entered a white SUV, determined to belong to him, and fled, leaving the scene.

Multiple eyewitnesses that attended court that day stated that an officer chased Davis out of the courtroom and shots were fired which led to the courtroom being put on lockdown for 10-15 minutes according to witness statements. There was nothing in the incident report stating that shots were fired at Davis after he fled on foot.

One person, Derek Elliot, who was attending court due to a traffic violation stated that the situation was unacceptable and that after Davis was informed of having a warrant, he broke free from an officer and fled. “The gentleman and officer started trading fire outside the courtroom. We were on lockdown for about 10-15 minutes. After all this the judge wanted to keep on going with court like nothing happened. I believe that the judge and city of Greenfield police did not handle the situation with empathy, tact or care. They had the nerve to say we were there because we broke the law. I don’t know if anyone was hurt or if they caught the guy but from here on out I will just take the points on my license if the court is not going to provide proper safety measures to protects people’s lives.”

Another eyewitness, BreAnna Nadig, said her and her mother were there and that “The whole situation was kind of crazy.”

Another eyewitness, Shawn Barner, said that he watched the entire thing. He said Davis went out to pay his fines with a card and “the door flew open, and he was running from a younger cop, who fell and hit his head on the wall while chasing him and then he got up and went out the door. As soon as the officer stepped out, we all heard two-three shots fired. I asked the chief of police if they had him in custody and he said no. I asked if they shot at him, and he said yes and that the suspect put the officer in harm’s way.”

Another eyewitness, TJ Williams, said that Davis ran through the courtroom with a cop chasing him. “The cop tripped and fell and then ran out the back door of the courtroom and I heard shots fired. Everyone ran and hit the floor. We were informed that it was a police officer that opened fire and people were freaking out because they had family members in the parking lot including children. People were still coming in and out of court while this was happening. The officers eventually locked the doors and assured us we were safe, but we didn’t feel very safe. The option was given by the judge to continue cases for a month if people were too shaken up.”

The Press reached out to Greenfield Chief of Police, Joey Radford, and was told that he wouldn’t be in to answer any questions until Monday, Oct. 24. The Press also reached out to Greenfield city mayor Cindy McAdams but has not received a response as of yet. Greenfield City Judge Langdon Unger told the Press that in his twenty plus year he’s never seen anything like this. “I will say that nothing dangerous happened inside the courtroom.” Unger also said there was nothing he saw or heard to indicate that Davis was armed. Unger said that he’s sure an investigation is ongoing, so he doesn’t want to say anything else until the investigation is complete.

Davis turned himself in to General Sessions court Oct. 19 and is currently being held at the Weakley County Sheriff’s Department on charges of unlawful possession of a weapon, evading arrest, resisting arrest and aggravated assault.