LEXINGTON, Tenn. -- A Tennessee state senator who is a frequent critic of truckers was charged with aggravated assault for allegedly firing a gun at a truck driver who tried to slow him down on the interstate, authorities said Thursday.
State Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis, apparently became angry during a traffic jam Tuesday on Interstate 40 near the exit to Lexington, about 90 miles east of Memphis, Henderson County Sheriff Charles Woods said.
Nelson Kieffer, a truck driver from Dallas who filed the complaint, said he saw a brown Mercedes speeding along the interstate and heard reports on his CB radio that the Mercedes was forcing cars off the road. Truckers tried to slow the car down while trying to alert troopers on the radio, he said.
When that tactic failed, Kieffer pulled into the right lane to allow the car to pass.
'I moved over in the right lane and let him go on and he pulled up beside me and gave me the No. 1 sign and opened his sunroof, pulled a gun and took a shot at me,' Kieffer said.
Kieffer, who was not hurt, copied down the number on the car's state Senate license plate, which later was identified as Ford's.
Ford, who has tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation prohibiting truckers from traveling in the left lane on interstates, denied the allegation.
'I don't know what you're talking about,' Ford said. 'I'll tell you this, if they say that in a warrant I'm going to have them in court.'
The veteran lawmaker said he does not own a gun and said the charge against him 'is a figment of someone's imagination.
'It sounds like a bunch of rednecks playing games and trying to embarrass people with an election coming up,' he said.
Ford is a candidate for re-election in November, but has no serious opposition.
Woods said he expects Ford to turn himself in after Ford's lawyer told the sheriff the senator would come to Lexington Friday.
Ford will be served with the arrest warrant at that time and will appear before a general sessions judge, Woods said.
Ford was involved in a high-speed interstate chase in 1980. A trooper who finally stopped the lawmaker said he was traveling over 100 mph near Dickson. The trooper said Ford was 'belligerent, arrogant and egotistical.' Ford said he was trying to get to a ceremony at the governor's mansion and called the trooper a racist 'redneck.' Ford was fined $25 for speeding.
A conviction on the felony carries a sentence of 3-6 years for a first offender. A felony conviction also would mean Ford, who has been in the General Assembly since 1975, would be prohibited from holding a state legislative seat.
Ford is a member of the politically powerful Ford family of Memphis. Ford's brother, Harold, is a Democratic congressman from Memphis. Another brother, James, serves on the Memphis city council.
