A man who was acquitted of a murder charge in May and was previously known for surviving a high-speed car chase on Rugby Road is now charged with assaulting a Charlottesville police officer.
Tsaye Simpson’s latest encounter with law enforcement came October 8 at approximately 12:40am when an officer allegedly smelled marijuana coming from a car he was following on the 700 block of Prospect Avenue and stopped the vehicle. While officers attempted to get the occupants to exit the vehicle, one noticed Simpson, 23, in the passenger side, reach into the rear floorboard, according Charlottesville Police spokesperson Lieutenant Steve Upman in a press release. After Simpson withdrew his arm, the officer saw the butt of a pistol on the floorboard.
Simpson would not comply when the officer ordered him to the ground, physically resisted the officer during the struggle and attempted to remove the officer’s gun from his holster, says Upman. The officer sustained minor injuries from the assault. Police then got Simpson under control and searched him, finding a concealed folding spring-assisted knife. After searching the vehicle, officers found a second firearm and other paraphernalia.
Simpson was charged with assault and battery on law enforcement, two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, possession or transporting firearms by a convicted felon, resisting law enforcement and obstruction of justice.
In May, Simpson was acquitted of all counts related to the October 2013 murder of Jarvis Brown, in which he had previously been charged with first-degree murder and given three weapons charges.
In 2009, Simpson, who was then a 17-year-old Charlottesville High School student, was arrested after a high-speed Rugby Road car chase, in which he catapulted the car into a house, fled the scene and caused over $100,000 worth of damages.