Domestic violence suspect Anthony Tremayne Cartwright is in stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after being shot in the right side by a Metro police officer who was chasing Cartwright on foot in a South Nashville neighborhood.
The foot chase occurred on Eulala Drive in the early morning darkness. Cartwright, 22, who is last known to have lived in the 1300 block of 12th Avenue South, was wounded by Officer Cory West just before 6 a.m. in the rear of a home at 5525 Eulala Drive.
The police department’s involvement with Cartwright began at 4 a.m. when his ex-girlfriend, Tawuana Sawyers, 27, phoned to report that Cartwright was banging on her apartment door on Swiss Avenue. On Monday of this week, Sawyers took out arrest warrants against Cartwright charging him with assault and vandalism after he kicked open apartment door and began cursing and yelling at her. Sawyers was in fear for her safety and believed she would have been struck if her brother had not intervened and made Cartwright leave. Sawyers on Monday also obtained an order of protection against Cartwright. Attempts by officers to serve the outstanding warrants were unsuccessful.
As police arrived on Swiss Avenue this morning, they saw Cartwright getting out of a Honda automobile that had been reported stolen from Whites Creek Pike in November of 2006. When officers approached Cartwright, he fled on foot. Inside the Honda were a semi-automatic pistol on the front floorboard and another pistol in the back seat. A police dog responded to the scene and attempted to track Cartwright, but was unsuccessful.
At 5:45 a.m., Sawyers alerted officers that Cartwright had telephoned her apartment. The telephone number on Sawyers’ Caller ID came back to the Texaco market at the corner of Old Hickory Boulevard and Eulala Drive. Officers responded to the market and saw Cartwright attempting to get a ride from a man in a blue pickup truck. When Sawyers saw the police, he began running on Eulala Drive. South Precinct midnight shift Officer Cory West gave chase. West chased Cartwright with the knowledge that two guns had been found in the stolen car he had been driving and that Cartwright was wanted on outstanding warrants.
During the chase, West repeatedly yelled at Cartwright to stop and show his hands. Cartwright refused and ran behind a home at 5525 Eulala Drive. As he ran, Cartwright tripped over a rock ledge in the back yard and fell. He had just gotten up when Officer West arrived behind the home. West yelled for Cartwright to show his hands. Cartwright, while about 10 yards from the officer, reached for the rear of his pants and produced what West perceived to be a gun. West fired one time in self defense. Cartwright went down and an ambulance was immediately called. When West checked Cartwright’s hand, he found that suspect was not holding a gun, but rather a wad of money and a watch with a black band that was unfastened and flopping in his grip.
Officer West, 29, who joined the Metro Police Department in September 2004 after working at the Chattanooga Police Department, is now on routine administrative assignment while the investigation continues.
Cartwright’s arrest history reflects charges of possession of cocaine for resale (in 2004 and 2005), evading arrest, aggravated trespassing, criminal impersonation, failure to appear in court, domestic assault, drug possession, resisting police and evidence tampering.
Anthony Tremayne Cartwright
Officer Cory West
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