A 67-year-old Knoxville man is facing a stack of felony and misdemeanor charges after deputies say he led them on a high-speed chase down Kingston Pike, hit 108 mph, and ended up in a ditch near Everett Road. Jimmy Stout was tased after allegedly ignoring commands to get out of his vehicle, according to court warrants.
The pursuit began around 11:45 p.m. when authorities spotted Stout driving eastbound on Interstate 40 with his muffler dragging against the pavement, according to warrants cited by WVLT. When authorities attempted to stop him, Stout instead exited I-40 onto Kingston Pike and kept driving, eventually turning westbound before deputies say his speed climbed to 108 mph near Lovell Road. That corridor typically carries around 30,000 vehicles a day and is posted for speeds of just 40 to 45 mph, according to local traffic data.
Stout's car eventually became stuck, and he crashed into a ditch near Everett Road, per the same warrants. Deputies say he attempted to exit his vehicle but did not follow verbal commands to get out and be handcuffed, at which point he was tased. Stout reportedly told deputies he did not pull over because he was nervous, per the warrants.
A Vehicle With Multiple Red Flags
Beyond the chase itself, deputies say Stout's car raised several issues: it was not registered, carried no insurance, and displayed a tag belonging to another vehicle without a valid expiration sticker. The vehicle identification number was also registered to a different person than Stout, according to the warrants.
Stout had two outstanding warrants out of Knoxville for DUI at the time of the stop, the report notes. Under Tennessee law, a DUI conviction carries a mandatory minimum sentence ranging from 48 hours to nearly a year in jail, along with a mandatory one-year license revocation, according to N. Cate Law — a legal backdrop that may help explain why he allegedly chose to flee rather than stop.
Charges Stack Up From Misdemeanor to Felony
Stout was ultimately charged with evading arrest with risk of death or injury, reckless endangerment involving a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, altering a license plate, violating the financial responsibility law, and violating the muffler law, per the warrants.
The muffler violation that first drew police attention is normally a minor Class C misdemeanor under Tennessee Code § 55-9-202, according to FindLaw. But fleeing law enforcement in a vehicle escalates quickly: Tennessee Code § 39-16-603 makes evading arrest a Class D felony — punishable by two to 12 years in prison and fines up to $5,000 — when the flight creates a risk of death or injury to others, per Oberman & Rice Law Firm. Separately, reckless endangerment jumps from a misdemeanor to a Class E felony carrying one to six years in prison when a motor vehicle is used as a deadly weapon, according to Freeman & Fuson.
Stout was taken to a hospital for evaluation following the crash, the warrants indicate. It remains unclear what his current medical condition is or when he is expected to appear in court.
Part of a Broader Pattern on Knox County Roads
This is not the first high-speed pursuit to make local headlines this year. In January, Knoxville Police arrested a woman with multiple outstanding Knox County warrants after she led officers on a pursuit that ended in a crash into a KAT bus. And in April, Oak Ridge police arrested a 32-year-old Knoxville man following a multi-jurisdiction chase that involved swerving, striking a patrol car, and spike strips.
The incident also lands amid heightened scrutiny of traffic safety across Knox County. The Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization recorded 55,500 total crashes countywide between 2020 and 2024, while the Knoxville Police Department reported 29 traffic fatalities in 2025 — a 45 percent drop from 52 deaths the year before, with speeding and inattentiveness cited among the top contributing factors. The city's Vision Zero Action Plan aims to eliminate traffic-related deaths and severe injuries on Knoxville roadways entirely by 2040 through redesigns and targeted enforcement.
It has not been determined whether additional charges will be filed against Stout pending further investigation, and no court date has been publicly confirmed.
