Judge Scolds Car Chase Driver, Doubles Bond, For Traumatizing Daughter

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – On a busy Thursday afternoon just before last Christmas, authorities allege Randal Keeton sped past Chief Deputy Austin Garrett, driving erratically and leading him on a pursuit that began around a packed Hamilton Place Mall. Footage from multiple mall security cameras shows the pursuit.
“This person is a danger to the community. That was well proven on December 16th when he fled from me, striking my vehicle, putting people in danger, the community around the Hamilton Place Mall and also on the interstate,” says Garrett.
Garrett called in for back up and the pursuit continued onto 75 South. Dramatic dash cam footage from different patrol cars shows the car chase, Keeton driving backwards at one point, before officers were able to block him in. A person can be seen in the passenger seat raising her hands and screaming. It was the ten-year-old daughter of Keeton.
“It’s horrifying to learn that a child was in that car. At the time the pursuit was going, we didn’t know that,” says Garrett.
In a preliminary hearing, Judge Christie Sell strongly admonished Keeton for the danger he put thousands of people in during that chase. But what she said was most upsetting was the trauma he put his daughter through, trauma Judge Sell said would probably last her lifetime.
“Fortunately, it ended without anyone injured with the exception of that young girl. She’s traumatized. And as a parent, it’s horrifying to know that someone would put their child in that kind of danger,” says Garrett. Audio played at the hearing of a female Detective comforting the girl who said she was so scared, she couldn’t even cry. Judge Sell bound the case over to grand jury and doubled Keeton’s bond to $350,000.