Four ERPD Officers Self-Quarantined After Potential Exposure to COVID-19

A person arrested Friday night by East Ridge police showed symptoms of the COVID-19 virus, officials said.

According to Matt Lea, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s office, an East Ridge officer brought a person to the Hamilton County Jail to be booked on a charge of a non-violent crime. The person, according to a press release, exhibited symptoms of COVID-19.

According to the press release, a magistrate released the person on his/her own recognizance. Due to the symptoms exhibited, the person was taken to a local hospital for medical review.

HCSO officials said via the press release, that no further details will be released because of HIPPA concerns regarding the person.

ERPD Stan Allen said as a result of this incident four officers involved are self-quarantined.

If the results of the tests on the person who was arrested in the Food City area of Ringgold Road come back negative, the four ERPD officers will come back on duty, Chief Allen said. If the COVID-19 test conducted by Erlanger Hospital staff returns a positive, the officers will continue the quarantine for 14 days and the department will attempt to have the officers tested for the virus.

Chief Allen said it was his understanding that Erlanger staff released the potentially infected patient after conducting the test.

Chief Allen said the department (about 40 sworn officers) is adjusting to the manpower shortage. He said that three of the officers were from the night shift and the other was working an off-duty job.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.