Baxter Chief Commends Officer for Effort in Arrest

Baxter Police Chief Danny Holmes commended an officer’s effort during an arrest at Speedway Saturday.

Officer Ryan Bean suffered minor injuries after being dragged by a stolen vehicle while attempting to make an arrest. Bean responded to the scene after a Speedway manager reported a suspicious man at the gas pumps.

“We’re just so thankful that [Bean] wasn’t killed in the line of duty or injured any more than he was,” Holmes said. “We’re really proud of him. That’s a very traumatic experience to be dragged by a car and still be able to make the arrest. That’s just outstanding on his part.”

Holmes said he was informed of what happened around 1 a.m. shortly after the incident at Speedway occurred.

“They told me that he was OK, he was taken to Cookeville Regional for x-rays on his knee,” Holmes said. “You always anticipate the bad phone calls of an officer hurt or killed in the line of duty and I just hope I never receive that call.”

Holmes said he has spoken with Bean several times since the incident and adds he his recuperating at home preparing to return on Wednesday.

David Smith faces multiple charges after attempting to flee a Baxter Police officer in a stolen vehicle Saturday at Speedway. (Photo: Putnam County Jail)

“We are a family,” Holmes said. “We only have five officers, and unfortunately every officer has to work by himself at night and that makes it even more dangerous. But I always tell my officers things don’t just happen in large cities. Things happen in small communities in Baxter and we don’t know how many people are coming through in stolen vehicles.”

David Phillip Smith, the driver of the stolen vehicle, faces multiple charges including reckless endangerment, one count each of evading and resisting arrest, and theft of property. He is currently being held at the Putnam County Jail on $30,000 bond.