Tennessee
couple sues for $15 million, claim children wrongly taken for Tennessee DUI, child abuse charges
An Alabama couple filed a nearly $15 million federal lawsuit claiming Tennessee authorities unjustly took their children from them after they were arrested on DUI and child abuse charges they alleged stemmed from insufficient evidence.
Nicholas and Elizabeth Frye said it took them nine months to regain the custody of their two children, according to the lawsuit they filed Tuesday against the city of Sevierville, the Sevierville Police Department, three Sevierville police officers and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.
The suit, which accuses the defendants of violating the parents’ and children’s rights against illegal seizure, among other claims, seeks $14.98 million.
A spokesman for Sevierville said the city “does not generally comment in regard to ongoing litigation.”
On Feb. 24, 2024, the Fryes were at a Tennessee resort celebrating one of their children’s seventh birthday when Elizabeth Frye slipped and fell on concrete. The family then headed to the Walmart in Sevierville to pick up medical supplies.
After exiting the parking lot, the lawsuit claimed, Sevierville Officer Laura Franklin stopped the family’s car for “no justifiable reason sounding in reasonable suspicion or probable cause.”
Franklin, the lawsuit claimed, accused the Fryes “of being intoxicated and/or impaired,” and the parents “explained the situation and denied any level of intoxication or impairment.”
Officers Jacob Rademacher and Camden Davis helped Franklin helped Franklin test the parents’ sobriety.
The lawsuit claimed blood was taken from Nicholas Frye but it was not an immediate test to determine if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol “as the ultimate blood results for Nicholas Frye show the absence of drugs and alcohol in their system at the time of arrest or otherwise that would show probable cause that Nicholas Frye was intoxicated.”
Yet probable cause was determined to exist and both parents were arrested, the lawsuit alleged.
Franklin arrested the parents on numerous charges, according to the lawsuit, “including DUI, public intoxication, child abuse and neglect and aggravated child abuse and neglect.”
After taking the parents into custody, Franklin or another Sevierville officer notified the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services while the Fryes’ children were taken to police headquarters “where they were detained until their grandmother arrived from Alabama,” the lawsuit claimed.
A Tennessee DCS agent allegedly prevented the Fryes from seeing their children and took their custody away “without any evidentiary basis and without probable cause.”
“From Feb. 25, 2024, it took more than nine months for the Frye parents to regain custody of their minor children,” the lawsuit stated.
The Fryes and their children, according to the lawsuit, are undergoing mental health treatment for their “significant mental and emotional anguish.
While the parents “suffered deleterious effects to their reputations,” the children have had similar struggles in school and have fear of police officers and government officials, the lawsuit claimed.
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — New TCAP results are giving parents their first look at how students performed across Southeast Tennessee during the 2025-26 school year.
Among the districts in the Chattanooga area, Dayton City Schools posted the highest proficiency rates in English language arts and social studies, while Rhea County led the region in math.
Here’s how districts in the Tennessee portion of the NewsChannel 9 viewing area performed:
Hamilton County:
- English language arts: 40.3%
- Math: 39.9%
- Social studies: 49.7%
Bradley County:
- English language arts: 45.1%
- Math: 43.5%
- Social studies: 46.7%
Marion County:
- English language arts: 37.9%
- Math: 30.6%
- Social studies: 43.3%
Grundy County:
- English language arts: 32.1%
- Math: 30.7%
- Social studies: 39.4%
Sequatchie County:
- English language arts: 34.1%
- Math: 32.0%
- Social studies: 46.4%
Bledsoe County:
- English language arts: 39.8%
- Math: 34.8%
- Social studies: 49.8%
Rhea County:
- English language arts: 44.0%
- Math: 46.1%
- Social studies: 51.4%
Meigs County:
- English language arts: 37.3%
- Math: 32.2%
- Social studies: 41.0%
McMinn County:
- English language arts: 41.1%
- Math: 39.5%
- Social studies: 50.0%
Polk County:
- English language arts: 35.1%
- Math: 27.2%
- Social studies: 43.0%
Cleveland City Schools:
- English language arts: 33.9%
- Math: 31.3%
- Social studies: 36.0%
Dayton City Schools:
- English language arts: 45.7%
- Math: 45.2%
- Social studies: 63.9%
Richard Hardy Memorial School:
- English language arts: 23.6%
- Math: 25.0%
- Social studies: 21.4%
Etowah City Schools:
- English language arts: 34.0%
- Math: 34.0%
- Social studies: 30.6%
Several local districts finished above the statewide proficiency average.
Bradley County, Rhea County and Dayton City exceeded the state average in both English language arts and math.
Rhea County and Dayton City also outperformed the statewide average in social studies, while McMinn County matched the state average in that subject.
Hamilton County school leaders are expected to present a more detailed look at the district’s TCAP results during Thursday night’s school board meeting.
Depend on us to keep you posted.
WHITE HOUSE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A heavy law enforcement presence was reported Tuesday near the intersection of U.S. Highway 31W and Rolling Meadows Road in White House.
FOX 17 News has a crew headed to the scene and is working to learn more about the situation.
Law enforcement vehicles line a roadway near the intersection of U.S. Highway 31W and Rolling Meadows Road in White House, Tennessee, as authorities respond to an active incident on Tuesday. Officials had not released details about the investigation at the time the photo was taken. (Photo: FOX 17 News )
A viewer told FOX 17 News a man was barricaded inside a home with other people inside. However, FOX 17 News has not independently confirmed those details.
Once at the scene, FOX 17 News learned that a man who was inside the home during the operation had exited the residence. FOX 17 News is working to obtain more information on the incident that is now subsiding.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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