From WRIL -
Tazewell Police Lt. Josh Fields tells WRIL that Wednesday afternoon the police department was dispatched to the Dollar General Store in Dogwood Heights in reference to shoplifters.
The suspects had left the store prior to the officers arrival in a black 2007 Nissan Altima with a South Carolina tag. Claiborne Dispatch reported the vehicle came back as stolen and those inside, 33-year-old Danielle Blackwell and 27-year-old Andrew Newby both of Greer, South Carolina, were wanted for kidnapping, burglary, robbery, and other charges.
The suspects ended up pulling into the Raceway gas station where a Claiborne County officer spotted them. A New Tazewell officer then pulled into the station and the car fled the scene turning up England Industrial Drive. After crashing the vehicle, Blackwell and Newby bailed out of the vehicle on foot behind the England plant running into the woods. During the time of the incident, the plant was placed on lockdown.
Multiple law enforcement agencies including officers from Tazewell, New Tazewell, and Claiborne County then surrounded the wooded area. Two Tennessee Governor Marijuana Eradication helicopters had been in the area and were able to spot the suspects, contact officers below, and the two were found shortly afterward. They were taken to an awaiting cruiser and transported to the Claiborne County Jail.
(Pictures supplied by the Claiborne County Sheriff's Department)
Lt. Fields states that he recovered all the items from Dollar General inside a tote in the back seat of the car, which totaled up to almost $400.
Both Andrew Newby and Danielle Blackwell were charged with fugitive from justice, theft over $10,000, felony evading arrest, and shoplifting. Newby has an additional charge of theft of merchandise under $500.