East Ridge Officer Alan Resendiz
On the evening of July 1, 2024, the Tennessee Highway Patrol began a police pursuit in Marion County on I-24 eastbound shortly before 9 p.m., with Marion County deputies assisting. The vehicle was identified as being stolen.
The pursuit traveled through Chattanooga and onto I-75 where East Ridge Officer Alan Resendiz was struck by the fleeing vehicle as he was attempting to deploy spike strips.
Thankfully, Resendiz, who had been hospitalized since the incident, was finally released on Thursday morning.
The stolen vehicle was driven by Ta’Bious Tezmon Wheat, 22, from Clarksville, TN. He swerved across multiple lanes and struck Officer Resendiz at an extremely high rate of speed. Wheat continued to flee south on I-75 into the state of Georgia while officers on the scene quickly began trauma care on Officer Resendiz.
Wheat was ultimately taken into custody after crashing into a Marion County Sheriff’s Department patrol unit in Whitfield County.
