from Johnson City, TN News Channel 11
Witnesses: Man drove 90 mph with genitals hanging out the window
By Kylie McGivern, Weekend Anchor / Producer / Reporter – email
WJHL-TV: News: Weather, and Sports for Johnson City, TN
KINGSPORT, TN (WJHL) –
Three women testified against former Mount Carmel Vice-Mayor William Blakely, graphically recounting times he exposed himself while driving. News Channel 11 had the only reporter in court for Thursday’s preliminary hearing in Kingsport.
“I was scared that I was gonna wreck, he was gonna cause me to wreck,” witness Deborah Sturgill said.
“It seems that every victim would tell the same story. But I knew all the victims did not know each other,” Kingsport Police Detective Terry Christian said.
“He was taking his hand, wetting his mouth, and masturbating,” Sturgill said.
“At over 90 miles per hour, he had his penis out [the window]… he was masturbating… and that’s when it got really, really bad. I wouldn’t look over any more, and I wrote his tag number down on my hand, which I believe he noticed, and he exited very quickly,” Street said.
Detective Terry Christian says it’s Street’s writing down of the license tag number that served as a catalyst for William Blakely’s charges.
“It went on for so long an nobody’s addressed it,” Christian said, referring to the dozens of phone calls the department has received over the course of three or four years – she said, related to Blakely’s behavior. Ages of the alleged victims range from 16-65.