CLINTON, Tenn. — Dwayne Howell still wants answers from a traffic stop on April 27, 2022.
Records show he and his son, Levi — who was suspended for fighting at Clinton Middle School — had made it about 300 yards from campus when they saw flashing lights behind them.
"He came up, asked me to step out of the vehicle and come to the front of his cruiser. I complied," Howell told 10News. "He never told me what I've done wrong to be pulled over. "
At the time, Howell didn't know who had pulled him over or why.
"He started saying that my son and his son had gotten in a fight," he recalled. "He pulled me over with a sole purpose, I believe, to harass me about my son being in a fight with his son."
Records show Oliver Springs Police Department Assistant Chief Ryan Williams pulled Howell over that day on South Hicks Street in Clinton, roughly 20 minutes outside of town limits.
Howell noticed the logo and called Clinton 9-1-1 for help.
"Can you can you find out if he's got jurisdiction to pull me over right now?" he asked the dispatcher.
"Are you pulled over by Oliver [Springs]…" the dispatcher began to ask.
"Yeah, because he got in a fight with my son at the middle school," Howell replied.
In a statement provided by Williams' attorney, Williams said he thought Howell and his son were "attempting to elude law enforcement from investigating the aggravated assault."
"Having reasonable suspicion, I believed a potential crime had just occurred, and having the authority, I stopped the vehicle approximately 300 yards from the school, by activating my blue lights," the statement said. "I calmly explained to the man his passenger had committed an assault and law enforcement had to speak with him about this crime."
Howell filed a formal complaint with the Clinton Police Department. Their investigation determined Williams broke two laws: TCA #36-16-402 Official Misconduct and TCA #39-16-403 Official Oppression.
"Reporting officer does request this case be presented to the Anderson County Grand Jury to go forward with charges," the investigator wrote.
Attorney Matt Ooten — who represents Howell — said he's disappointed that never happened.
"It's important that the officers obey the law," Ooten said. "When the officers don't obey the law, they should have the same consequences as the rest of the citizens do."
Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark reviewed Williams' case. He wrote a letter to Oliver Springs Police Chief David Laxton explaining his decision.
"We have carefully considered whether to prosecute this case and have even performed some independent investigation with your assistant. Chief Williams is a personal friend and, I know, a trusted part of your department; thus making this unavoidable duty uncomfortable," he wrote. "Nevertheless, our duty must be done, so we have completed our process and reached a decision.
He wrote there's no indication any Anderson County Sheriff's Office school resource officer, school official, or Clinton officer asked Williams to get involved in a criminal investigation or specifically, a traffic stop.
"It was not apparent that Asst. Chief Williams had any police authority to act in this instance," Clark wrote. "I am of the opinion that the stop made by Asst. Chief Williams in this instance was unlawful.'
He wrote Williams had received guidance on a previous traffic stop outside of Oliver Springs' jurisdiction, but that the circumstances of this stop were different so that guidance would not have applied to this case arising entirely outside of Oliver Springs.
"Asst. Chief Williams may have been angry and that anger may have significantly affected his judgement. I do not believe the circumstances that I understand to have occurred could give rise to reasonable confusion on the part of a police officer about that authority," he wrote. "I do not believe that the State would be able to unanimously convince a jury that Asst. Chief Williams had the required intent to commit a crime and that at least some jurors may be concerned that there was some basis for confusion about legal authority for a stop outside of municipal limits."
He recommended implementing a corrective action plan for Asst. Chief Williams for "his own good, to protect the public and perhaps protect Oliver Springs from some future liability."
10News reached out to Chief Laxton to see whether the department had created a corrective action plan or taken any disciplinary action against Williams. He said they could not answer any questions because of pending litigation from Howell.
"Nothing was ever done, so it's really upsetting," Howell said. "For all the good [officers] out there, you get one like that who just ruins the rest of them."
Williams said his son was taken and treated at the hospital for injuries he sustained in the assault.
Howell said his son was charged in juvenile court for assaulting Williams' son. He said he was suspended from school and required to write a paper and do community service.
"[My son] had done wrong," Howell said. "He had to suffer whatever consequences that they were gonna give him, which he did."
He said what happened with Williams doesn't feel right. That's why he filed a federal lawsuit last month against Williams, Laxton and the town of Oliver Springs.
He said he hopes it will hold them accountable so something like this doesn't happen again.
"Mr. Williams done wrong and has yet to suffer any consequences," Howell said. "That's really disappointing in our judicial system."