Drive home turns into nightmare for county commissioner’s child

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A plea for change after violence hit home for one Shelby County commissioner. Commissioner Charlie Caswell shared at Monday’s commission meeting how his own daughter became a crime victim in Memphis this past weekend.

Tiara Caswell told Action News 5 it was a drive home she never imagined.

“Getting ready to make a left turn, and she jumps right back in front of me and hits her brakes, like extremely hard,” she said.

Caswell said she was on her way home from work Sunday, November 12, when she noticed a driver trailing really close to the back of her car.

“And she was still like riding my bumper the entire way,” Caswell said. “So, I move up to let her in between. I gave her the benefit of the doubt that maybe she was frustrated that me and another car were in both lanes and going the same speed.”

She said she tried to make room for the other driver to get around her.

“I had to jump over in the right lane and still trying to make my turn,” she said.

Caswell said that didn’t help.

“And that’s when she hits my car, like bumper cars,” she explained.

According to a Memphis police report, this all happened as Caswell was driving south on New Allen Road near Scenic Hills Baptist Church around 7:15 p.m.

In the report, the car described as an older model teal Buick cut Caswell off at the intersection of New Allen Road and Scenic Hills Highway and hit her car on the driver’s side when she tried to turn left onto Scenic Highway.

When the crash happened, she decided to drive a different way to get away from the other driver.

“Instead of going straight home, I turned into the fire station on Scenic Highway,” she said.

It was reported that she stopped at Fire Station 46. She said the driver of Buick followed her to the station, and that’s when the situation got scarier.

“She came in, blocked me in, and I’m holding the horn to alert the firefighters to get someone to come outside and help, and that’s when she starts kicking the door and kicking the trunk. Bending the tags, beating on the windows, yanking on my door,” she said.

After that incident and another where she said she was almost robbed a month ago, Caswell said she is tired of looking over her shoulder.

“It’s been a thing for me that I am really tired, because in Memphis, women can’t even go do their normal daily routines. They can’t just do their normal daily routines, without fearing or without being so guarded,” she said.

Caswell said she plans to press charges against the woman who was driving the Buick.

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