Box truck driver charged

Church members and convenience store customers heard a box truck driver play audio Sunday similar to the audio heard before the Nashville explosion Christmas Day, Rutherford County Sheriff’s sergeant said.

Because of those actions, driver James Turgeon, 33, of Holly Grove Road near Murfreesboro was charged with two counts of felony filing a false report and one count of tampering with evidence Sunday night by lead Sheriff’s Detective Joseph Duncan.

Detective Sgt. Steve Craig said patrol deputies responded to a call of the driver playing the audio loudly outside the Crossroads Market in Walter Hill.

“During the course of the investigation, it was revealed Turgeon made a similar announcement at Kings Chapel Independent Missionary Baptist Church at Jefferson Pike and Dunaway Chapel Road while church was in service,” Craig said.

Sheriff’s deputies from Wilson and Rutherford County and the Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped Turgeon who was driving in Wilson County. He was detained for questioning.

Lt. Bill Miller of the Tennessee Highway Patrol said THP’s Special Operations Unit used a robot to check the truck.

“No device was detected,” Miller said.

Spokesman Michael Knight of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said certified explosives specialists and resources from ATF’s National Center for Explosives Training and Research worked with the Tennessee Highway Patrol at the scene.

Craig said detectives found Turgeon allegedly damaged the speaker system wiring intentionally, resulting in the tampering with evidence charge.

Turgeon was being booked into Rutherford Count Adult Detention Center.

Craig thanked Wilson County Sheriff’s deputies, Tennessee Highway Patrol, the ATF, Rutherford County Special Operations Response Team for its drone, Rutherford County Fire Rescue and Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services for the “outstanding help.”

Turgeon is being held on $500,000 bond. A hearing is set June 7, 2021 in General Sessions Court.