Chattanooga man arrested for carjacking

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF) – A Chattanooga man with a colorful criminal record is now facing one count of carjacking.

Police arrested Solomon Lamar Pierce III, 20, of Chattanooga after he reportedly brandished a handgun to rob a 30-year old man of his scooter.

It happened early Tuesday morning in the 1700 block of Carson Avenue.

Police located the scooter in the 600 block of Dodds Avenue where they also located Pierce. An officer said he spotted Pierce hiding in some shrubs close to where Pierce reportedly left the scooter.

According to the arrest report, the victim told police he was on Carson Avenue to ask a friend for some cigarettes when he was approached by an unknown black male who asked him if his scooter was for sale.

The victim reportedly told the man it was not for sale then the man reportedly pulled out a hand gun and demanded the victim give him the scooter.  That man was later identified as Solomon Lamar Pierce III when he was captured by police.

Pierce told police he traded crack cocaine for the scooter and that the victim was making up the robber claim so that he could get his scooter back.  But police felt there was enough evidence of a crime committed to arrest Pierce.

During interrogation, Pierce reportedly admitted to investigators that he drove the scooter and was hiding from officers because he was scared he would be arrested due to his prior robbery charge.

Back in late January, Pierce was convicted on one count of robbery and sentenced to six years in prison but the sentence was suspended.

In January of 2013, Pierce plead guilty to one count of resisting arrests and was sentenced to six months in jail.

Pierce is back in jail on a $60,000 bond and it’s unclear if he has an attorney.

His next court date is September 3.