Participant in Chattanooga's new crime reduction initiative arrested with gun

A participant in Chattanooga's Violence Reduction Initiative is facing gun charges and four counts of violating his probation after attending the program's first call-in held in March.

Police arrested Aveus Bailey, 21, on April 10 and charged him with evading arrest and carrying a dangerous weapon with the intent to go armed.

According to an arrest affidavit included in Bailey's probation violation report, Bailey fled from police on foot after an officer started to search the vehicle he was riding in.

Bailey surrendered to police after attempting to climb a fence.

When asked by an officer why he ran, Bailey said there was a gun underneath the passenger seat of the Ford Expedition where he had been sitting.

Officers found a loaded Glock pistol on the side of the front passenger seat, between the seat and the console.

The VRI program calls for its participants to put down their guns to help curb the violence plaguing the city's streets. The program is modeled after the High Point Initiative in North Carolina that drastically reduced violence.

In other cities, participants in similar programs who were caught in the possession of a firearm face serious federal charges and years in prison. Often, these first offenders are made examples.

Upon leaving the call-in, Bailey told The Times Free Press he liked what he heard in the meeting and planned to do what he was told.

He also said he would tell other members of his Rollin 60 Crips street gang to stop the violence.

But Bailey did not meet with his probation officer following the call-in

He is being held at the Silverdale Detention facility.

For more, see Wednesday's Times Free Press.

Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.

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