LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- A call of a motor vehicle accident sent LaFollette Police Officer Jacob Brown to the Main Street Shell gas station at 219 W. Central Ave. on March 6. When Brown arrived, he spoke with the victim who alleged while he was pumping gas a black SUV hit the passenger side of his vehicle. The victim continued that a male got out of the SUV and was trying to show him something on his phone while pleading for him to relocate at a nearby bank. The victim also reported that the male said he couldn’t have the police involved or he would go to jail. The male went back to the vehicle and left the gas station, according to a report from the LaFollette Police Department.

The victim told Officer Brown he had taken a picture of the license plate on the black Ford Edge that struck his vehicle. After checking the license plate, it came back to a black Ford Explorer owned by the suspect identified as Kermit Lee Comer, Jr. and not the vehicle it was displayed on in the victim’s phone.

The Campbell County Sheriff’s Department was sent to 432 Coolidge Road in search of a black Ford Edge with a matching license plate number from the photo the victim had. When deputies made contact with Comer and identified the license plate at the residence, they contacted Officer Brown who went to the residence. The officer saw the license plate back on the correct vehicle. He then spoke with Comer who stated he had been home all evening and hadn’t driven anywhere due to his license being suspended. Officer Brown noticed that Comer was showing signs of nervousness and asked him if he was telling the truth. He then stated that he was contacted through Facebook by a female who asked to borrow the tag for her vehicle to go to the gas station and that she would return it in the next couple of hours.

Officer Brown went back to the scene of the accident to review camera footage where Comer was seen operating a black Ford Edge wearing the same maroon hoodie and light wash jeans that the officer saw him wearing at his residence.

Comer, 33, 432 Coolidge Road, LaFollette was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving while license suspended. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-03/18/2025-6AM)

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