Corrections & Amplifications: This story has been corrected to reflect the correct spelling of the officer's name.

A Knoxville Police Department officer is under investigation after pulling his gun while off-duty on a woman who was changing a license plate on an SUV she purchased in Jefferson City.

KPD is investigating the actions of Officer Matthew Janish after Tonya Jameson filed a complaint on May 8, spokesman Darrell DeBusk confirmed Monday.

Jameson, a 45-year-old black woman from Charlotte, N.C., alleges Janish exhibited poor judgment and used excessive force in holding her at gunpoint.

"This is how people wind up dead," she said.

From Charlotte to Jefferson City

Jameson had been looking to purchase an SUV for a month when on April 25, she saw a Craigslist ad for a vehicle in Jefferson City.

Three days later, she went to the female owner's home on Davis Hollow Road. She test-drove the vehicle, bought it on the spot, and the woman signed over the title. Jameson returned to Charlotte and registered the vehicle in her name.

On May 3, Jameson took a one-way rental car to Morristown, then took an unmarked taxi to the woman's home to pick up the SUV.

"She wasn't home, but she knew I was coming," said Jameson, a former newspaper reporter for the Charlotte Observer.

Jameson was unscrewing the license plate when she heard Janish's voice behind her.

"I heard a voice behind me say, 'I'm an off-duty police officer,' " she said. "I turned around and realized he was holding a gun on me."

A 20-minute 911 call

Janish called Jefferson County E-911 around 3:41 p.m. and reported a suspected auto theft.

The woman who sold the SUV to Jameson was Janish's mother-in-law, and he thought Jameson was trying to steal her vehicle, Janish told the dispatcher in a recording of the call.

Janish, who has been with KPD since 2006 and lives across the street from his mother-in-law, told the dispatcher he had a gun trained on Jameson.

On the recording, Janish can be heard telling Jameson to "keep your hands in the air" and "stay right there" as he questioned her on the cab that dropped her off, as well as when and from whom she bought the SUV.

"She (his mother-in-law) hasn't told me anything about it," Janish can be heard saying.

Jameson said she tried to convince Janish she wasn't a thief by talking about his mother-in-law. She told him she had the vehicle's registration in her bag and the keys in her pocket, but he wouldn't let her move, she said.

A Jefferson County deputy arrived at the scene at 3:49 p.m., according to E-911 records. Janish put his gun away.

Jameson said she again offered proof she was not a car thief.

"I said I have the bill of sale signed by the lady ... and the license plate matches the (vehicle identification number) for the truck," Jameson told the pair.

Jameson said the officers wouldn't look in her bag or let her produce the documents but instead asked about the taxi, suggesting it was an accomplice, not a cab ride. The deputy told Jameson to call the taxi driver and tell him to return.

"I said, 'You want me to call the taxi back here?' " Jameson said in an incredulous tone.



The situation remained in a stalemate until Janish ultimately heard from his wife, who said her mother had sold the SUV to Jameson.

The E-911 call was closed at 4:01 p.m., records show.

Calling the sheriff

Jameson said she posed no threat to Janish, but he pulled a gun on her anyway. She said she believes her skin color was a factor.

In addition to filing a complaint with the Knoxville Police Department, Jameson called Jefferson County Sheriff Bud McCoig, who told her he had talked to the deputy and determined it was a case of no harm, no foul.

"He's like, the deputy said the call lasted 11 minutes, and you didn't show him the registration," she said.

McCoig declined Monday to give the name of the deputy involved and wouldn't answer specific questions.

The sheriff said he believed the KPD officer "assumed someone was stealing the car because they pulled up with no markings whatsoever on the car (taxi), dropped somebody off, went up to the car (and) started changing the license plate on the car.

"That's all I'm going to say right now."

DeBusk, the KPD spokesman, said Janish's work status has not changed, and he has not been disciplined before.

Jameson said she was "troubled" by "the idea that (Janish) would have shot me over a truck (SUV)."

"It wasn't protecting someone's life or his own life. It was a truck. It blows my mind."