Women say they fear suspect on the run
By Jamie Satterfield knoxnews.com
Travis Selvidge
A married mother of four remains hospitalized, three women are in hiding, one man is jailed, at least one other suspect is on the run and answers are in short supply one day after an attack via vehicle at a West Knox County intersection.
"We're staying with someone who can protect us," said one of four women who were inside a Toyota Camry authorities say was intentionally rammed, causing it to flip onto its top Thursday morning. "I don't like guns, but I'm staying with people who have them."
The News Sentinel on Friday interviewed three of the women involved in incident on Snyder Road that left Angela Monger of Philadelphia, Tenn., in serious condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center and put Travis D. Selvidge, 24, of Loudon County behind bars.
At least one other suspect was believed to have been in the BMW that authorities allege Selvidge intentionally slammed into the Toyota Camry that Monger was driving, but the Knox County Sheriff's Office so far has not been able to either identify that suspect or locate him.
The three women are not being identified in this story at their request because of their fear of being tracked down by the suspect still free. They say they believe that suspect is a friend of Selvidge's who since the crash has been sending them threatening messages via the popular social networking Internet site Myspace.com. KCSO officials aren't saying if they agree.
One of the women, a 19-year-old, said she wound up "in the wrong place at the wrong time" when, at 9:41 a.m. Thursday, the BMW slammed into the Camry, which was stopped at an intersection. A warrant by KCSO Detective Greg Faulkner alleges Monger tried to speed away, but Selvidge rammed her car again. That caused the Camry to "spin out of control, travel off the roadway down a steep embarkment into a field and roll over onto its top," Faulkner wrote.
Monger's passengers remember little after the first rear-end crash.
"We were at a dead stop," a 26-year-old passenger recalled Friday. "I remember Angie said, 'Oh, my gosh, who's coming up behind us?' He was going like 40 mph when he hit us."
The next thing she recalls is opening her eyes inside the upside down Camry, seeing an unconscious Monger and waiting to die.
"We were there inside the car thinking they were going to come up and blow our brains out," the 26-year-old woman said.
The 19-year-old passenger does not know Selvidge or the friend the other women suspect was also in the BMW. She was with Monger and her two female friends as the women went in search of a house to rent.
The 26-year-old woman and the third passenger, a 28-year-old woman, say they and Monger have been the target of harassment and threats by Selvidge and his friend since an August motorcycle crash that claimed the life of Monger's 23-year-old brother, Steven Matthews Rice. They won't say much about why, except to note that Rice's fiancee is now engaged to Selvidge's buddy. Selvidge and his friend grew up with Rice.
All three women are angry that Selvidge's bond was set at $14,000, despite the fact he was on probation after pleading guilty Oct. 15 in Knox County to a charge of driving under the influence. His license was ordered revoked for a year.
"I hate being scared every day," one of the women said. "I think it's ridiculous what the bond is. Where is the justice here? Why wasn't he in jail instead of probation?"
Selvidge is set to appear in General Sessions Court on Nov. 10.