The System Works: Deputy Who Randomly Fired His Gun Through His Windshield Into Rush Hour Traffic Fined $2

from the making-the-least-of-a-learning-experience dept

This is the story of a person who should have never been allowed to be a law enforcement officer. He wasn't one for long, but he was one long enough to do something so batshit crazy, it nearly requires the suspension of disbelief asked of us by fiction writers.

Noah Arwine is no longer a sheriff's deputy. But while was still a deputy, he did this:

On Nov. 2, 2018, Arnwine was riding back from an inmate transport in the passenger seat of a county cruiser when the then-19-year-old pulled out his personal .38-caliber Ruger, emptied all but one chamber, pointed the gun at the windshield and pulled the trigger "as if he was playing Russian roulette," according to his partner. The bullet pierced the cruiser's windshield and whizzed into traffic during rush hour on Interstate 75 North near the Philadelphia, Tennessee, exit.

His co-worker, Deputy Cody Lankford, responded with more composure than most people would in this exceptionally novel situation. He slowed down the vehicle, tried to see if any drivers had been shot, and drove back to the Sheriff's Office to report this incredible (in all the worst ways) incident. Perhaps Lankford showed too much composure.

"It really freaked me out, but I don’t think anybody got hurt. It’s just the principle that he’s that stupid, and it kind of worries me."

This is just the beginning of a long list of almost-unbelievable events in this story. As stated above, Arnwine is no longer employed by the Claiborne County Sheriff's Department. But he was not fired for this incident… you know, the one that involved firing a live bullet through the windshield of a police cruiser into rush hour traffic. Not for a lack of trying by concerned supervisors.

This shooting was reported to (now-former) Assistant Chief Deputy Mark Ellis. Ellis recommended Arwine be fired and charged with a felony. This did not happen. Sheriff Bob Brooks chose to overlook this incident almost entirely. Perhaps this was due to Arwine's stepmother being the Sheriff's secretary. Or perhaps because Arwine's father, a State Trooper, used to work with the sheriff.

Instead, Sheriff Brooks decided to fire the messenger.

Ellis said the sheriff ignored his advice, kept the shooting quiet and instead forced Ellis out over a struggle with a jail inmate. That struggle, which ended when Ellis used a stun gun to subdue the inmate as he fought with half a dozen officers, led to Ellis' indictment on charges of assault and official oppression.

Sheriff Brooks denies any of this happened the way Ellis said it happened. But his explanation is actually worse.

The sheriff, for his part, called Ellis a "full-blown liar," said he never saw a recommendation Arnwine be fired and downplayed the shooting as an accident that didn't need investigating. "It must be a slow news day if you're asking about this," Brooks told Knox News when first asked about the shooting.

It apparently was never investigated, at least not by the Sheriff's office. Arwine remained on the force for nine months, only to be fired shortly after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation started looking into deputy's in-car shooting. But even this firing had nothing to do with Arwine's passenger seat Roulette game.

Brooks, who took office just after his predecessor was indicted, said the timing was a coincidence and that he fired Arnwine for refusing an order to go to a jail tower.

Maybe so. (And if so, what the fuck. The shooting seems like a way more "fireable" offense.) But it's the ride-along gunfire that actually netted Arwine a criminal charge. This debacle has finally come to an end. Unfortunately, the system continues to bestow its blessings on the ex-deputy who certainly hasn't earned all the grace he's been granted. Arwine is paying for his LEO sins, but he'll still get change back from his $5.

Noah Arnwine, now 21, turned himself in to be booked into the Loudon County jail on a warrant for felony reckless endangerment. He promptly stood before a judge, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of the same charge, paid his fine of $2 and walked away with 11 months, 29 days of unsupervised probation. He also will be required to perform community service and take a gun safety course.

All this tells citizens is that their lives are worth about $2 if a deputy chooses to fire a bullet from a Sheriff's Office car into rush hour traffic. Arwine is going to be able to find another law enforcement agency to work for since misdemeanors are rarely an impediment to cops and their careers. And that's if anyone even bothers to do a background check. Chances are, the records of this incident will be excised from Arwine's permanent record, allowing him to continue serving the public as a loose cannon until someone in that ultra-forgiving occupation finally tires of his antics.

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Filed Under: law enforcement, mark ellis, noah arwine, police, sheriff bob brooks, tennessee