KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen’s office prosecuted a case against a police officer who lied on an arrest warrant, according to a release.
Joseph Charles Roberts, 23, pleaded guilty to tampering with governmental records, a Class E felony that carries a punishment of one to two years involving falsifying information on an affidavit, according to the DA's office.
As part of the plea, Roberts resigned from the Knoxville Police Department.
Attorney T. Scott Jones released a statement Thursday afternoon on Roberts' behalf:
"Mr. Roberts has accepted full responsibility for his imprudent actions and has been punished not only by the loss of his law enforcement career but by submitting to a 2 year probationary sentence. He is desirous of redeeming himself through his continued good conduct in order to establish that the events for which he submitted were an anomaly in an otherwise law abiding and upright life. I, as his legal counsel, trust in the safe wisdom of the Judge in that his request for diversion is not something that is given but rather something that he will hopefully earn and merit after 2 years of exemplary probation. He is a young man that made a grave error and is paying a high price for the same and he implores the forgiveness that is earned through future acts of meeting society’s standards."
According to the DA's release, Deputy District Attorney Leland Price explained to the court that on Jan. 31, 2022, Roberts initiated a traffic stop near the Oglewood Avenue and Cornelia Street intersection. The vehicle began to flee at a high rate of speed.
Roberts lawfully pursued the vehicle, but he can be seen turning off both his cruiser camera and his body-worn camera in violation of KPD policy, according to the DA's office. Despite his attempt to turn off the cameras, the cruiser camera automatically turned back on eight seconds later when Roberts’ speed reached a certain threshold.
Roberts continued to pursue the vehicle with lights and sirens traveling north on Central Avenue to Heiskell Avenue and onto I-275 North to I-640 East, the DA said. The vehicle pulled away from Roberts as they approached the Broadway exit, but he found it again after it hit another car at the intersection of the I-640E exit ramp and Broadway.
The DA's office said when other officers arrived on the scene, they repeatedly asked Roberts if he was involved in a pursuit. Even though the pursuit lasted three and a half minutes, covered over four miles, and reached speeds over 100 miles per hour, Roberts repeatedly said he was not involved in a pursuit.
When Roberts later swore out warrants for the occupants of the vehicle, he again lied and made a false entry in the affidavit of complaint, according to the release. The falsification of official records was a criminal act that falls under the jurisdiction of the District Attorney to prosecute.
The DA's office said the additional violations of departmental policy or civil law are not issues for review.
“It is imperative that citizens are able to trust law enforcement,” Allen said. “By repeatedly being dishonest when questioned by his supervising officers and by falsifying his sworn statements, this officer broke the law, damaged that trust, and showed that he was unfit to serve as an officer of the law.”
Judge Scott Green accepted the sentence length of two years and set the case for sentencing on June 29 where the State will argue against Roberts’ request for judicial diversion, according to the release. Prosecutors will argue against judicial diversion so the offense stays on Roberts’ record.
The DA's office said prosecutors will provide court records to the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, the regulatory body for law enforcement officers, to ensure Roberts is not permitted to seek a law enforcement position in another jurisdiction.