Chattanooga man's bond raised, juvenile charged in Bradley County armed burglary

Mar. 29—The bond for a Chattanooga man suspected in a March 14 Bradley County armed burglary was quintupled following a preliminary hearing Thursday in Bradley County General Sessions Court.

In additional action in the same case, charges were filed against a juvenile who was allegedly shot by an armed homeowner during the incident.

Bradley County General Sessions Judge Sheridan Randolph hiked the $20,000 bond Jaylen Terrell Johnson, 18, was being held on during the hearing Thursday, according to the Bradley County Sheriff's Office. Johnson is charged with aggravated burglary, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, according to investigators.

"The charges were bound over to the grand jury and his bond was increased to $100,000," sheriff's office spokesperson Alana Shell said Tuesday in an email. A case is "bound over" in Tennessee when the judge decides there is enough evidence for the charges in a criminal case to be transferred to Circuit Court for a presentation to the grand jury.

The 10th Judicial District Public Defender's Office is representing Johnson but attorneys there declined to comment on the case when contacted Tuesday.

Johnson's next court date is June 6, Shell said.

A woman called police on March 14 and said she was home alone with the 4-month-old granddaughter of her boyfriend when someone entered her home, according to a news release and court affidavit in the case.

Armed with a shotgun, the woman shut herself in her bedroom with the baby and when one of the intruders opened the bedroom door she saw what she thought was a firearm and fired her shotgun, according to the affidavit, then she closed the door again.

When deputies arrived, the suspects were gone but officers found evidence that someone had been injured and local hospitals and agencies were notified to be on the lookout for the suspects, authorities said.

About 25 minutes later, Bradley County authorities were told a male juvenile arrived at Erlanger East on Gunbarrel Road in Chattanooga with a gunshot wound to the arm, the release states. Deputies and detectives went to the Chattanooga hospital to talk with the juvenile and a man who accompanied him. The man turned out to be Johnson.

Detective Brandon Edwards used security video from the home to watch the incident unfold, the affidavit said.

"I observed four subjects enter the residence by kicking the front door," Edwards said in the release. "They proceed through the residence and down a hallway when a shot is fired. The video shows at least two of the subjects were armed with firearms."

Edwards said surveillance footage showed one person wearing shoes that matched the juvenile now in custody and another person wearing clothing that matched what Johnson was wearing when he was arrested, according to the affidavit.

Johnson allegedly admitted to being one of the people in the surveillance video, the affidavit states, but he said he didn't know the other two men with him and the 16-year-old.

Johnson said the two unknown men took him and the teen to Erlanger East hospital in Chattanooga in a white car and dropped them off, the affidavit states.

The 16-year-old was charged Friday with aggravated burglary, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, authorities said. He is being held at the Bradley County Juvenile Detention Center.

Meanwhile, authorities continue to seek leads on the other suspects, who remain at large.

Bradley County authorities urge anyone with any information related to the case to contact the Bradley County Sheriff's Office criminal investigations division at 423-728-7336.

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.