A 52-year-old man has been arrested by the Knoxville Police Department for fleeing from a traffic stop and assaulting multiple officers. KPD reports that 52-year-old David Esserman was arrested on Monday.
On June 3, 2024, KPD officers were carrying out a directed patrol due to a drug complaint in the area of McTeer Street. Around 12:20 p.m., officers stopped a silver Infiniti sedan at Fillmore Avenue and McTeer Street for traffic violations.
KPD says officers suspected the driver may have been in possession of narcotics. The driver was asked to step out of the vehicle. KPD alleges the driver, Esserman, began to start the vehicle and attempted to drive away.
Two KPD officers were injured while attempting to prevent the vehicle from leaving. They suffered injuries after being drug by the suspect’s vehicle. Both were treated for minor injuries.
Officers and Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputies pursued the suspect until the pursuit ended in the area of Whittle Springs Road and Hoitt Avenue. Esserman allegedly ran over the foot of a KCSO deputy and rammed into an occupied KCSO cruiser before being apprehended.
KPD says officers sized more than 350 grams of suspected marijuana and $40,000 from Esserman’s vehicle. Esserman is charged with four counts of Aggravated Assault, two counts of Evading Arrest, Resisting Arrest, and Sale and Delivery of a Schedule VI Drug.
52-year-old David Esserman, of Knoxville, was arrested and charged for assaulting multiple Knoxville police officers after fleeing a traffic stop on McTeer Street early Monday afternoon.
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— Knoxville Police TN (@Knoxville_PD) June 4, 2024
Jay Skelton is an independent crime journalist with a passion for covering the uncovered and the under covered.