Tennessee Highway Patrol Arrest Wanted Fugitive

NASHVILLE -- On April 4, 2016 at 4:30 a.m., Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Fall Branch dispatch contacted THP Sergeant Mark Musick, and informed him that the Hamblen Co. Sheriff’s Office had requested THP Aviation assistance in locating an individual who had fled from the scene of a crash. The crash took place at the intersection of Copper Ridge Rd. & Bright’s Pike in Hamblen County. The individual who fled was identified as Bruce Allen White. The THP Dispatch informed Sergeant Musick that White was wanted by the West Virginia State Police for parole violations with full extradition from anywhere in the United States. He was also considered armed & dangerous due to his original offenses of 1st degree murder and armed robbery.

Trooper J.D. Gregory met Sergeant Musick at the THP Fall Branch district hangar to assist the ground units in the search. Trooper Bobby Bullington was on scene and Sergeant Jason Lowe was in route to the scene. A perimeter was established along the neighborhood of the search and a natural perimeter (Cherokee Lake) was to the north of the search area. While in route, Sergeant Musick directed dispatch to contact Lieutenant Willie Ramsey to request deployment of the Strike to Hamblen County for additional manpower.

Once Trooper Gregory and Sergeant Musick arrived on the scene, they searched for nearly an hour directing ground units to different targets of interest which eventually were checked with no success in locating the suspect. Sergeant Musick later learned from one of the ground units that Hamblen Co. 911 had received a call of a person who was possibly on the Cherokee lake in a small boat. THP aviation then flew to that area that was only a quarter mile away and confirmed there was a boat on the lake about 200 yards from shore. Trooper Gregory also confirmed with Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) that there was a subject in the boat. The sun was just beginning to come up at this point, so THP aviation could not see the individual well enough to give a description. Aviation waited a short time until they could see without night vision goggles (NVG).

A positive identification of the suspect was made once Sergeant Musick gave a physical description of the individual to the ground units. Sergeant Musick circled his helicopter keeping the suspect under observation while ground units gained access to the boat. Once on the lake, Trooper Anthony Bull and Sergeant Nathan Hall placed Bruce Allen White under arrest and took him into custody without incident. Booking photos can be obtained from Hamblen Co. Sheriff’s Office.

      

      

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s (www.TN.Gov/safety) mission is to serve secure, and protect the people of Tennessee.

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