A man accused of shooting a woman outside Nashville's Tanger Outlets on Christmas Eve 2023 is back in custody after leading Metro police on a high-speed chase that topped 140 mph on Interstate 24 last week. Daweit Solomon, now 23, was taken into custody on Monday, August 31, following a pursuit that began when officers spotted a white Infiniti sedan speeding around Murfreesboro Pike and ended with the car abandoned on Forest Trace Drive.
According to WKRN News 2, officers first stopped the Infiniti in a parking lot on Lafayette Street, but Solomon drove off as they approached. Metro's Aviation Unit tracked the car from above as it reached speeds over 100 mph on Murfreesboro Pike before topping 140 mph on I-24, according to a court document cited by the station. Police say the Infiniti was driven extremely recklessly on roadways throughout South Nashville before officers deployed spike strips on Anderson Road to slow it down.
Solomon eventually parked the car on Forest Trace Drive and ran into a wooded area, per the outlet's reporting. He was picked up by an unknown vehicle, but authorities identified and arrested him within a few days. One neighborhood resident described the night of the pursuit as chaotic, telling the station that roughly ten police cars were in the area.
How Metro Police Handle High-Speed Pursuits
The Metro Nashville Police Department's pursuit policy dictates that officers may only initiate high-speed chases after determining that a fleeing suspect poses a greater immediate threat to public safety than the pursuit itself, according to Raybin & Weissman. The department frequently pairs ground units with its Aviation Unit and spike-strip deployments to disable fleeing vehicles while limiting danger to surrounding traffic, per Stop Stick, a tactic that mirrors what unfolded on Anderson Road as officers worked to end the chase before it reached higher-traffic corridors.
Solomon was booked into the Downtown Detention Center by the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and held on a $32,000 bond. He faces a lengthy list of charges stemming from the chase: misdemeanor reckless driving, misdemeanor evading arrest, felony evading arrest with a motor vehicle involving risk of injury, felony possession of a firearm with intent to commit a dangerous felony, felony possession of marijuana with intent, felony false report involving an incident or offense, and felony probation violation. He is scheduled to appear before a judge Wednesday in Nashville.
The 2023 Shooting That Started It All
Solomon's legal troubles trace back to a shooting reported outside the Tanger Outlets on the 4000 block of Cane Ridge Parkway in Antioch on Christmas Eve 2023. The Metro Nashville Police Department said the shooting stemmed from a dispute between a man and a woman who knew each other, and Solomon allegedly shot the woman in the leg during a fight. The mall itself was still new at the time of the shooting — the $145 million, 290,000-square-foot open-air center had opened less than two months earlier, according to Retail Insight Network, and sits within Century Farms, a 300-acre development zoned for up to 20 million square feet of retail, healthcare and mixed-use space that also includes Nashville SC's training facility, per Crexi.
A 19-year-old woman told authorities the suspect threatened to kill her and asked what she had on her, according to arrest documents, and officials said her statements matched video from the scene. The victim was treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for non-critical injuries and was released by December 26, 2023. Metro police announced Solomon, then 20, was wanted in connection with the shooting the day after it happened.
A Georgia Arrest and a Plea Deal That Drew Scrutiny
Solomon fled Tennessee and was arrested in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta, on January 5, 2024. Arrest warrants at the time charged him with especially aggravated robbery and felony gun possession, and he was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center before being returned to Nashville to face the shooting-related charges, according to The Georgia Gazette.
The case eventually resolved with a plea deal: Solomon's charge was pleaded down from a Class B felony to a Class D felony, and he was sentenced to three years of supervised probation with stipulations that included a ban on possessing firearms and a no-contact order with the victim. The District Attorney's Office said the aggravated assault charge involved extenuating circumstances and that issues had arisen between Solomon and the victim, while noting he did not have a significant criminal history at the time.
What Solomon Now Faces
The new felony evading arrest charge carries added weight because of the danger the chase posed to bystanders. Under Tennessee Code § 39-16-603, evading arrest in a motor vehicle is elevated from a Class E to a Class D felony — carrying 2 to 12 years in prison and a mandatory 60-day minimum confinement — when a high-speed pursuit creates a risk of death or injury to others, according to the Oberman & Rice Law Firm. A basic evading charge without that risk factor carries only a 1-to-6-year range.
His firearm charge brings its own mandatory exposure. Tennessee Code § 39-17-1324 requires a mandatory minimum of 3 years in prison, served at 100 percent with no eligibility for probation, for possessing a firearm during commission of a dangerous felony, per Quillen Law — a sentence that increases to 5 years with a prior felony conviction. Judges have no discretion to suspend or soften sentences under that statute.
Perhaps most consequential is what happens to Solomon's existing probation. Under Tennessee Code § 40-35-311, a judge presiding over a probation revocation hearing needs only a preponderance of the evidence — a lower bar than a criminal trial — to revoke probation and reinstate the original suspended sentence, according to MJ Law. New felony charges, unlike minor technical violations, can open the door to the full original sentence being reimposed. He also faces a felony false report charge; under Tennessee Code § 39-16-502, knowingly providing false statements to law enforcement during an investigation is a Class D felony punishable by 2 to 12 years, according to Justia Law. Any Class D felony conviction in Tennessee can bring 2 to 12 years in state prison plus fines up to $5,000, per the Eldridge and Cravens law firm. Solomon's court date Wednesday will be the first test of how prosecutors and a judge weigh that stacked exposure.
