COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. — A Newport man has been charged with kidnapping and assault more than a month after he was taken into custody following a fugitive search in Cocke County.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said a grand jury indicted Gary Ball last week. He is now formally charged with two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated kidnapping, nine counts of aggravated assault and one count of evading arrest.
The investigation started on Dec. 9, 2022, after the Newport Police Department received a report of a man in the area of East Broadway waving a handgun.
The TBI said officers tried to stop Ball, but he refused to pull over and led authorities on a chase. At one point, the TBI said he pointed a gun at a female passenger and fired numerous shots in the direction of deputies with the Cocke Co. Sheriff's Office and officers with the Newport Police Department. The TBI said Newport officers fired back, and no one was hit.
The TBI said Ball also shot in the direction of a pedestrian.
The chase ended on Fairview Street, where police said Ball got out of the vehicle and ran away. They said he was later found by authorities at a vacant home in the area of Missionary Ridge Road and was taken into custody without further incident.
The TBI said the charges were served at the Blount County Jail, saying Ball was already being held there on a parole violation.