TBI: Armed corrections officer assaulted motorcyclists

Special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have obtained indictments charging a Van Buren County Corrections Officer with two counts of reckless aggravated assault.

According to a news release, on June 16, at the request of 31st District Attorney General Lisa Zavogiannis, TBI special agents began investigating Vernon Frazier. On June 13, two individuals riding motorcycles in Spencer reported to the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department that a vehicle pulled alongside them, and the driver displayed a handgun in a threatening manner.

The release said that when the sheriff's department determined that a Van Buren County Sheriff's Department Corrections Officer could be involved in the incident, Zavogiannis requested the TBI investigate the case. Through the course of the investigation, agents developed information that identified Vernon Frazier as the individual responsible for displaying the weapon to the motorcyclists.

On Monday, the Van Buren County grand jury returned indictments charging Frazier, 73, with two counts of reckless aggravated assault. Frazier was arrested Monday evening after turning himself in at the Van Buren County Jail. The Spencer man was booked and released after posting a $2,500 bond. He is currently suspended from his position at the sheriff's department.