KNOXVILLE, TN — Conventional wisdom – which is often conventional but not always wise – insists that adult businesses are dangerous places. Billie Simpson recently discovered that this is sometimes true – especially if the adult business in question is a retail outlet that attracts shoplifters.Simpson, 40, was working as a clerk at the Town and Country Adult Book Store in West Knoxville, TN when he noticed a patron extending a five-finger discount to himself on the morning of Friday, May 4th.
As a law-abiding and hard working American citizen, as well as a loyal employee, Simpson didn’t think that was right. He followed the suspected thief out of the store and, as the man prepared to get into his car, Simpson demanded that he turn over the magazines he was believed to have taken from the shop. Instead, the man decided to drive away – with a piece of his accuser’s clothing caught on the white Volkswagon Jetta’s door.
While it may have been a mistake – if not an “honest” one – to have dragged Simpson 30 feet down Clinton Highway, it was no mistake when he backed over Simpson’s ankle, once the clerk became disengaged from his car.
Eddie Moore, another employee, who saw the incident, told WATE 6 news, “Myself, I would probably have just let it go. But it was basic instinct. You’re working somewhere and you see someone stealing from you; it’s hard to just let him walk out the door. All we wanted to do was get the merchandise.”
The suspect, believed to be 5’ 8” tall and 150 lbs. left Simpson with a broken ankle and a lot of pain. “I’ve got tire marks on my back and my shoulder,” he said while recovering in his home in Campbell County. “My ankle has tire marks, black tire marks.”
