Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – More volunteer opportunities have opened up for this afternoon, and the city is able to support additional volunteers. Those interested in volunteering should arrive at Walmart, at 300 Pleasant Grove Road, to register around 12:30 p.m. today (3/7/2020).
Anyone 16-years-old and above can participate, but juveniles must be accompanied with a parent or guardian.
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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Only current, pre-approved volunteers or organizations will be permitted to participate in any city volunteer activity. No one should arrive and expect to be allowed to volunteer. We are overwhelmed as a community and are no longer accepting volunteers.
If a volunteer or organization is “pre-approved”, they have already received communication and confirmation from city officials or volunteer committee members in regards to the volunteer effort.
Those who are not already pre-approved volunteers will not be able to participate in any volunteer activity throughout Mt. Juliet city limits during the duration of this tornado response.
There are many areas across Middle Tennessee that were impacted by this storm and are still in need of help. Those wishing to volunteer are encouraged to reach out to other impacted communities.
We truly appreciate the outpouring of support, but we are overwhelmed.
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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Mt. Juliet officials instated a curfew for areas that suffered extensive tornado damage in today’s storm. The purpose of the curfew is to aid police in protecting those homes and property from potential thieves.
Individuals who are not property owners, or guests of property owners, are prohibited from remaining or traveling on public or private property in the designated curfew areas between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
The curfew will be applied to the following areas:
Residents are also discouraged from working on damaged structures or cleaning-up debris while the curfew is active due to the danger of working in complete darkness.
The curfew begins at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Officers intercepted a wanted person, driving a stolen car, after the department’s Guardian Shield ALPR alerted on a plate associated with the stolen car. Around 12:18 p.m. on Thursday, February 27, 2020, officers began to look for a silver 2010 Hyundai Sonata after Guardian Shield alerted on the tag as it crossed through the Lebanon Road and N. Greenhill Road intersection. The vehicle was intercepted by officers on Lebanon Road near N. Mt. Juliet Road, and the driver, 46-year-old John Byung Joon Lyu of Ooletewah, was found to be wanted by the Collegedale, TN Police Department for Theft of a Motor Vehicle.
Further investigation revealed the car was reported stolen out of Collegedale, about 147 miles away from Mt. Juliet, on February 2, 2020. Lyu was arrested and booked into the Wilson County Jail until he is transferred to Collegedale for the theft charge.
Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Officers intercepted a wanted fugitive from justice, driving an overdue rental SUV, after the department’s Guardian Shield ALPR alerted on a stolen Maryland license plate. Around 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, officers began to look for a blue Infiniti QX50 SUV after Guardian Shield alerted on the tag as it crossed through the Lebanon Road and N. Greenhill Road intersection. The vehicle was intercepted by officers as it pulled into the post office, and the driver, 31-year-old Christopher McCreery of North Carolina, was found to be a fugitive from justice out of Louisiana and North Carolina.
Further investigation revealed the Maryland license plate was reported stolen out of Washington, D.C. on November 22, 2019, and the Infiniti was an overdue rental car. McCreery was wanted out of Louisiana for a full-extradition, felony parole violation related to felony drug charges, and he was also wanted out of North Carolina for a probation violation related to weapon possession.
Christopher McCreery, 31, of North Carolina
McCreery was arrested and booked into the Wilson County Jail, charged with the following:
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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Officers intercepted a wanted, convicted felon driving a stolen SUV after the department’s Guardian Shield ALPR alerted on the vehicle. Around 4:25 p.m. on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, officers began to look for a black Toyota Highlander SUV after Guardian Shield alerted on the tag as it crossed through the Lebanon Road and N. Greenhill Road intersection. The vehicle was spotted by officers on N. Mt. Juliet Road near Interstate 40, and the driver, identified as 47-year-old Glen Adams, began his attempt to evade officers. Adams continued to evade to Central Pike near Pleasant Grove Road, where he lost control of the SUV and crashed into an unoccupied home.
Following the crash, officers began their work to ensure no residents were in the home and contain Adams. Officers successfully cleared the house, turned off a ruptured natural gas line, and confirmed that Adams remained inside the SUV. With the home’s structure unstable, the department executed a plan with responders from Mt. Juliet Fire and Wilson EMA to ensure Adams was removed from the SUV and taken into custody with the utmost care.
Adams was successfully removed from the SUV and transported to a local ER for evaluation. He has since been released and booked into the Wilson County Jail, charged with the following:
Glen Adams, 47, of Old Hickory
Adams allegedly stole the Toyota Highlander SUV while it was unlocked and running at an Exxon in Murfreesboro on Tuesday, February 11, 2020. He was wanted out of Sumner and Wilson County for charges related to felony theft and illegal drug activity. Also, he is a convicted felon of voluntary manslaughter and numerous drug charges.
“It is unclear why Adams was in Mt. Juliet and over 35 miles from where the SUV was stolen, but I’m glad that technology was able to alert our officers to his presence. Guardian Shield continues to make us aware of dangerous individuals who have committed serious crimes far from our community,” stated Chief James Hambrick.
The investigation is on-going, and detectives are coordinating with agencies across the region in regards to Adam’s activities.
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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – After a nearly 2.5-hour search, officers spotted and apprehended 25-year-old Matthew Rischbeck, who was a suspect in an aggravated assault incident at a Hermitage Home Depot. As Rischbeck fled Home Depot, his vehicle became disabled on Lebanon Road near Devonshire Drive around 10:30 a.m. A witness spotted Rischbeck running into nearby woods as officers were responding to the scene, and they were able to provide officers with a detailed account and description.
Once Mt. Juliet officers realized that Rischbeck was fleeing a Metro-Nashville Police incident, a containment perimeter was established. Officers then coordinated with Metro-Nashville Police officers and Wilson County Sheriff’s deputies in the search for Rischbeck, which included a helicopter and K9 resources.
Around 1:15 p.m., Rischbeck was spotted running across Lebanon Road by a Mt. Juliet officer who then was able to direct other officers to his whereabouts. Rischbeck surrendered and was taken into custody after an officer spotted him emerge from a wooded area onto Springmont Boulevard. Metro-Nashville Police officers took custody of Rischbeck.
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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – The City of Mt. Juliet was made aware of a natural gas outage in the Kelsey Glen neighborhood this evening. Once aware, City officials began to communicate with Piedmont Natural Gas, provider of natural gas for the area, who stated an equipment failure caused the outage. Piedmont confirmed they were working quickly to fix the problem, and they provided the following statement for Kelsey Glen residents:
1/21/2020 9:00 a.m. Update: Piedmont Natural Gas technicians have restored service to more than 50 percent of customers in Kelsey Glen. We are staged at the subdivision entrance and at the subdivision pool for customer questions, which has been communicated on the subdivision Facebook page. Our expectation is to have all service restored today, as long as we are able to gain access to the equipment in the homes.
1/20/2020 10:00 p.m. Update: Kelsey Glen is experiencing a natural gas outage due to an equipment failure at the subdivision. All available Piedmont Natural Gas technicians are on site and are currently making repairs to the equipment. After completing the repairs tonight, technicians in the area will be going door-to-door to restore gas service to affected homes. Piedmont will need to enter your home to have access to your appliances and natural gas equipment, so residents will need to be onsite to let the technicians inside. Piedmont representatives will knock on your door and will be uniformed, with proper company identification badges. If you miss the door-to-door visit, Piedmont will continue to work to make contact with each customer. If you need further assistance, or if your service is not restored, please call 1-800-752-7504 to schedule a technician.
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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – 26-year-old Jerald Riggs of Mt. Juliet was apprehended and booked into the Wilson County Jail after shooting his 48-year-old mother multiple times this morning. Around 8:30 a.m. officers were summoned to the parking lot of Meridian at Providence apartments, at 120 Providence Trail, in regards to a shooting. Officers arrived to find the female victim on the ground in the parking lot, and they immediately began life-saving efforts after discovering numerous gunshot wounds to various parts of her body. It was quickly determined who the suspect was, and Riggs was spotted nearby and apprehended.
The victim was immediately transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she remains in critical but stable condition. Detectives responded to process the scene, collecting all facts and evidence.
Further investigation revealed that Riggs lived with the victim at the apartment complex, and he confirmed using a small-caliber handgun to shoot the victim multiple times. A nearby witness heard the incident and called police, providing a detailed suspect description.
26-year-old Jerald Riggs of Mt. Juliet
Detectives obtained a warrant, charging Riggs with Attempted Criminal Homicide. The investigation remains on-going as detectives continue to evaluate all aspects of this incident.
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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – The City of Mt. Juliet and Mt. Juliet Police Department selected Rekor Systems, Inc. to roll-out the community’s Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) program, which the department is terming as “Guardian Shield.” The Guardian Shield program was initiated to enhance the community’s safety by providing the department an additional tool to further guard and shield Mt. Juliet’s residents and visitors from criminals who enter the city to cause harm.
Before selecting Rekor Systems, the department and I.T. professionals conducted testing and an extensive review of Rekor and other leading license plate recognition systems. The Rekor Systems product performed the best and has strong security protections in place to protect the video collected. A hit, generated from the Rekor product, also led to the successful apprehension of an armed and dangerous wanted person.
“Our number one priority is maintaining the safety of our community, and we are always looking for robust tools and technologies that can help us to do so. Rekor’s Edge and Watchman vehicle recognition technology provided better results than its competition during our trial period. Importantly, it proved its value immediately during testing by helping us to catch a wanted fugitive and take a dangerous man off the streets,” said Police Chief James Hambrick. “With higher accuracy than other providers, as well as the ability to affordably scale, Rekor’s solutions fit the needs of our department both now and for the future. We look forward to working with Rekor to make Mt. Juliet and the surrounding communities a safer place.”
The Guardian Shield ALPR program will not be used for anything traffic enforcement related, and it will only be used to guard and shield the community from vehicles attached to a hotlist or investigate crimes, such as criminal homicide, forcible rape, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, theft, dangerous drug offenses, or a wanted person. In addition, the technology records video and images of the vehicle, which is only kept for a period of 30-days. The technology does not track who is driving or who is in the car. More importantly, the system does not access the Department of Safety’s license plate database, so there is no way to access personal data or determine who owns the vehicle.
Thirty-seven locations for fixed-cameras were identified throughout the city that would provide the best possible coverage to guard the entire Mt. Juliet community. Rekor Systems will support the cameras for near $89,000 a year, pending successful contract negotiations and final approval.
Rekor Systems, Inc’s Message: Rekor’s Vehicle Recognition Solutions Selected by Mt. Juliet Tennessee Police Department to Increase Public Safety After Successful Test Caught Wanted Fugitive
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