Man with extensive criminal history apprehended; TBI investigation continues

Cocke County Sheriff C.J. Ball said he expects to receive a detailed report in the coming weeks from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) on its investigation of an officer-involved shooting that occurred around 1 a.m. Nov. 1 in Cocke County.

TBI issued a preliminary report Nov. 1 announcing it was investigating the shooting at the request of 4th Judicial District Attorney General James Dunn.

TBI’s press release stated a driver refused to stop and led deputies on a pursuit. Deputies attempted to stop the vehicle and take the driver into custody in the 1700 block of Neddy Mountain Road in Del Rio. At some point during the encounter, for reasons still under investigation, deputies fired shots, striking the driver. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

According to Ball, Bradley Grooms, 35, was apprehended early Friday, Nov. 1 after his vehicle was spotted driving without registration tags. Grooms was known to have an outstanding violation of probation warrant and authorities had been searching for him.

Grooms was on probation arising out of a conviction for assault.

According to a Cocke County Sheriff’s Office Report of Nov. 26, 2021, Grooms was arrested on those charges when police observed him on Morrell Springs Road. Grooms had several active warrants out of Cocke County for aggravated rape, aggravated assault and kidnapping. Grooms entered a residence on Morrell Springs Road and entered the bathroom. Police were able to take Grooms into custody and transport him to the Cocke County Jail Annex.

Information developed by The Newport Plain Talk indicates Grooms pleaded down to only the assault charge following his 2021 arrest, served limited jail time and then was transferred to federal authorities related to a previous conviction where he was subsequently granted probation. It was his violation of this probation that led to the issuing of the warrant for violation of probation and his arrest Nov. 1 in Cocke County.

Grooms has an extensive criminal and arrest history going back more than a decade, mostly on theft charges, including being convicted in 2017 of stealing property from the residence of Cocke County Commissioner Robert Green in 2015 among several other property crimes.

As Grooms had already pleaded guilty at that time to being a felon in possession of a firearm, combined with his criminal history, he was considered an armed career criminal, which could have sent him to federal prison for 15 years.

Among his many past encounters with local enforcement was his memorable attempted escape in 2011 when, according to a report in The Newport Plain Talk, Grooms, who was a burglary suspect at the time, fled on foot from officers from the Cocke County Sheriff’s Department and Newport Police Department along a railroad trestle over the Pigeon River.

He then jumped into the river and swam to a small island in the middle of the Pigeon River before officers in a rescue boat reached him and apprehended him at gunpoint. He was captured approximately one hour after reaching the island.

Following his most recent arrest on Nov. 1, Grooms was charged with multiple counts. In addition to violation of probation, Grooms is currently charged with three counts of reckless endangerment — vehicle felony; evading arrest, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of speeding, reckless driving and other vehicle/traffic-related offenses.

The Cocke County Sheriff’s Office advised Grooms remains in custody with a bond of $150,000.

Ball declined to discuss the officer-involved shooting that transpired following the Nov. 1 arrest saying he preferred to wait for TBI’s findings before discussing that incident further. He said his department is cooperating fully with the investigation, including providing any bodycam or dashcam footage to TBI.

TBI indicated in its report no officers were injured in the incident.