Metro Nashville Police Chief Under Investigation for Allegedly Pursuing Relationship with City Employee During Work Hours

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Chief John Drake is under investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Accountability over claims that he engaged in a romantic relationship with a Metro Nashville employee during work hours, the department confirmed to The Tennessee Star on Monday.

MNPD Public Affairs told The Star the complaint naming Drake was filed by Mario Mitchell, a 44-year-old man who was arrested for felony aggravated stalking earlier this month after a woman identified in a police report as his ex-wife, Watechia Lawless-Mitchell, who currently works as the Director of Children and Youth Initiatives for Metro Nashville, filed a police report related to an April 1 incident.

According to a police affidavit provided to The Star, Lawless-Mitchell told MNPD her ex-husband “sent multiple text messages stating he knew where her car is and provided screenshots of various addresses she had been,” and at one point “showed up to a parking garage where Watechia was parked charging her vehicle and reached into her vehicle and stole her iPhone.”

The police report revealed that Lawless-Mitchell claimed her ex-husband later threatened to kill her if he is arrested, and that she considered the threat to be valid.

Following his arrest, Mitchell claimed that Drake, acting as the chief of police, was responsible, MNPD told The Star.

The agency’s public affairs office confirmed the allegation Drake ordered Mitchell’s arrest proven false, and that Mitchell has since recanted this claim against the police chief.

However, according to MNPD Public Affairs, “Mitchell has made another allegation against Chief Drake concerning working hours that is under investigation by the Office of Professional Accountability.”

The confirmation of the investigation and context around Drake’s allegations comes after WSMV 4 reported on Tuesday that it “obtained volumes of text messages” apparently between Drake and Lawless-Mitchell.

Prior to its revelation, MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron told the outlet that there was no proof the relationship occurred during working hours, but said the department “must take a look” at the allegations.

Drake was appointed MNPD’s chief in November 2020 and has worked for the department for 37 years, having joined in 1988.

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “John Drake” by Metro Nashville Police Department.