Former Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brian Moat was charged with misdemeanor assault and felony vandalism following an Aug. 1 road rage incident in Nashville.
According to an affidavit filed in a Davidson County Court, Moat allegedly attacked a Nashville cyclist in a road rage incident that caused an injury to the cyclist's hand and caused $5,600 in damage to his “high-end racing model” bicycle.
Police said that the cyclist reported that he rode into a traffic lane due to a vehicle that was parked in the road's bike lane.
The cyclist then “tapped on the hood of the defendant's vehicle due to thinking the vehicle was going to bump into him,” after which police said that Moat “accelerated quickly and pulled into the bike lane several times.”
The cyclist attempted to flee from the vehicle, which allegedly followed him and repeatedly cut him off.
“Witnesses saw the defendant's vehicle driving at a high rate of speed on Belmont [Boulevard] and cutting in front of the victim, blocking his path in the bike lane,” the affidavit reads.
“The victim stopped and witnesses saw the defendant exit his vehicle while running at the victim and screaming at him. The defendant pushed the victim while he was still on the bicycle and the victim managed to dismount on the side away from the defendant. The victim stated that the defendant took the bicycle from him and then threw the bicycle at him.”
Police said that a portion of the incident was captured in a cell phone video, while a witness reported seeing blood on the cyclist's hand.
56-year-old Moat served as the chief of the NVFD from 2017-19, and also served with the Nashville Fire Department.
NVFD was disbanded in 2021 when the Town of Nolensville established Nolensville Fire and Rescue, a municipal combination fire department, which absorbed some members of the volunteer department that served the town since 1973.
Moat was arrested just after midnight on Wednesday morning and was released hours later on a $12,500 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 1.