I wish the self proclaimed experts here would at least have their facts strait and have knowledge of the situation before posting.
Watchman:
The police never received a call about a possible robbery. That delusion was created by a overzealous dispatcher by the name of Timothy McHood.Read here about the facts in the case.
Dispatcher McHood's interview
Timothy McHood was one of three Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatchers who played roles in the Jan. 1 traffic stop that culminated in the shooting death of a family pet.
McHood was later interviewed about his role in the stop of the James Smoak family by an agent for the THP's Criminal Investigation Division as part of an internal review of the Smoak case.
The following is Special Agent William Farris' report of his talk with McHood, conducted Jan. 6. McHood works for the THP in Cookeville. Parentheses appear where Farris or his typist included them. Information in brackets has been added by editors for ease of reading.
On January 6, 2003, I conducted a non-custodial interview of Timothy Glenn McHood, white male, date of birth 2/26/64, SSN [McHood's Social Security number was obscured on the copy of the report given to The Tennessean by the THP.]
The nature of the interview conducted involved the Smoak felony traffic stop in Putnam County on January 1, 2003.
Operator McHood stated he recalled the events leading up to the traffic stop in the order as follows:
1. Operator Brock took the first (NAWAS) telephone call from Nashville, Tennessee Highway Patrol Operator [Shannon] Pickard, concerning the green station wagon with large amounts of money being thrown out of the windows.
2. Next, Cookeville Tennessee Highway Patrol received a teletype from Nashville inquiring about a recent robbery that could have occurred involving a green station wagon. [The underlining here was done by Farris or his typist.]
3. Operator McHood immediately put the BOLO [''be on the lookout''] broadcast out over radio air. He noted that the green station wagon could possibly have been involved in a robbery. [Underlining is by Farris or his typist.]
4. Operator McHood stated a few minutes after Nashville notified Cookeville by Nextel [a wireless telephone-like device] and advised the green station wagon might have a South Carolina license tag, they (Nashville THP) found an I.D. with the money. Operator McHood stated Nashville THP (Operator Pickard) kept on stressing, large amounts of money. [Italics here are by Farris or his typist.] Operator McHood then broadcast this information over the radio.
5. A few minutes passed when Trooper Bush acknowledged over the radio he might have spotted a green station wagon going eastbound on Interstate 40 that fit the BOLO description.
6. After catching up to the vehicle, Trooper Bush then relayed the vehicle had 2-3 occupants inside.
7. Operator McHood immediately talked to Nashville THP by Nextel and told Operator Pickard he would have the registration information soon. Within five seconds, Trooper Bush relayed the license tag information. Operator Pickard advised Operator McHood that he has already checked the license tag and the identification matches the vehicle information. Operator McHood states that was the end of the Nextel communication.
8. Next communication by Operator McHood with Nashville was on the NAWAS telephone. McHood told Operator Pickard that Cookeville THP units were 10-81 [making a stop] on the green station wagon with the South Carolina license tag at the 287-mile marker, eastbound.
9. Next Operator McHood stated that immediately after Trooper Bush stopped the vehicle, he (Operator McHood) contacted Nashville (Operator Pickard) by Nextel and asked if they (Nashville THP) had determined if the vehicle or person had actually been verified as being involved in any criminal activity. Operator McHood is not certain if Trooper Bush inquired about this information prior to approaching the vehicle. The response from Nashville was that no agency had responded to the teletype inquiry. Operator McHood stated this communication from Nashville to Cookeville was done by Nextel after Operator McHood passed that information by 2-way radio to Trooper Bush. The next thing McHood recalls was the final contact in which Lieutenant Andrews asked that the radio tape log be removed.
Operator McHood stated that it is normal procedure for all teletype information received that involves the Cookeville District including Interstate 40 to be relayed to all cars.
Operator McHood stated that similarly some calls from Nashville THP and/or BOLO information goes without every [ever] being inquired upon, but stressed that Nashville kept on calling and communicating about the vehicle, which seemed to him that this was very important.
He further stated that he did not know that it was only a billfold/wallet with money blowing out of it until the incident was over.
Operator McHood stated that when he receives a teletype with the subject heading ''Recent Robbery'' or anything similar, he relays this information primarily for the concern of officer safety.
