Report: Ex-police officer tried to control earlier domestic assault case involving stepson

photo Kirk Eidson
photo Robert Ingle

A pair of now-retired Chattanooga assistant police chiefs gave improper orders and bypassed the chain of command during a November 2013 incident that involved one's stepson, multiple police officers told an internal affairs investigator.

The internal affairs investigation was opened into the conduct of then-assistant chiefs Kirk Eidson and Randy Dunn after Eidson's stepson, Robert Ingle, punched his mother in the mouth while she was driving on Nov. 21, 2013.

She received a large knot on the side of her head and visible marks around her lips, according to the internal affairs report. Ingle, who was then 17 and has been diagnosed with a mental illness, left the area after the assault.

When the responding officer attempted to record the incident as both a domestic assault and a missing person, Kirk Eidson called the officer and told him not to, according to the internal affairs report. Instead, Eidson told the officer to file the report as a mental health consumer and missing person incident.

When the responding officer questioned the directive, Eidson apparently called Assistant Chief Dunn, who contacted the officer and reinforced Eidson's order.

The officer then contacted a sergeant, who also questioned Dunn and Eidson's order not to classify the incident as a domestic assault, according to the report. When the sergeant confronted Dunn, the assistant chief told the sergeant that Ingle didn't need to go to jail because of Ingle's mental illness.

Both chiefs had already retired before the internal affairs investigation was started in January 2014, and the investigation concluded with a "no action taken" status in April 2014. The internal affairs department cannot discipline retired officers.

After the initial incident and report, police officers went back and added the offense of simple assault to the case. At that point, the case was referred to the Family Investigations Unit. Investigators in that unit contacted Hamilton County Juvenile Judge Rob Philyaw to ask whether prosecuting the case was "necessary or advantageous," and Philyaw told police a conviction was unlikely and prosecution would be futile, according to the investigative report.

At that point, the assault case against Ingle was administratively closed.

Eidson declined to comment for this story. Dunn could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

In a separate incident Sept. 14, Ingle allegedly attacked Eidson while he was getting dressed and Eidson shot Ingle in the leg during the scuffle.

Ingle was arrested and charged with domestic assault and vandalism for his role in the shooting. Eidson was not charged.

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.

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