31-year-old Tanner Patterson was charged with the rape of two women, suspected of a third, on different occasions at his Brentridge Drive apartment between January 14th and January 24th. On January 14th, Patterson contacted the first woman, responding to an advertisement she placed on List Crawler, and she agreed to go to his apartment. A friend dropped her off around 6 a.m., and she met with him as she approached building one. He had her walk around the breezeway on the right side of the building and demanded to know who dropped her off, so she video-called her to prove it. This scared her, so she tried to walk away, but Patterson pulled out a black handgun, pointed it at her, and wrapped her face so she could not see before striking her multiple times in the head with the pistol. He began to drag her and hit her two more times with the firearm, and when they got to his unit, he covered her nose and mouth with his hand, making it difficult for her to breathe. She struggled, trying to get away, when he told her, “Bitch you’re making it worse on yourself,” and made her sit on the couch. Then, he applied a makeshift blindfold and told her to do what he said, and if she removed the blindfold, he would kill her. Patterson searched her purse, asked where the money was, and took her phone to see if she was sharing her location with anyone, to which he said if she were, he would “Bust a cap in her and kill her.” He demanded to know if anyone knew she was there, made her give him her passcode to her phone, and had her text her friend who dropped her off that she was good and would stay for two hours.
Then he patted her down, checking if she had anything on her, before undressing her, groping her breasts, and moaning. She started to cry, and he told her to be quiet, stood her up, escorted her to the back of the apartment, and pushed her down onto an air mattress. Patterson removed her boots, began to take off her clothing, and told her, “Take this shit off now.” He told her to open her legs, but she refused, so he slapped her thigh and said, “Open your fucking legs.” Then, Patterson pulled out his penis, had difficulty achieving an erection, and began masturbating while touching her. He had her get on the floor and attempted to have vaginal intercourse with her from behind but was unable due to impotence. He made her get on her knees and “give him head” and told her she better not bite his dick. He struck her in the face and began to have oral sex with her, telling her to open her mouth, and removed her blindfold, demanding that she look him in the eyes during it. Then, he got an erection, put the blindfold back on her, spit on his hand, put on a condom, and raped her vaginally from behind until he ejaculated. Patterson told her to put her clothes back on, helped her put on her pants, and rummaged through her belongings again. She gathered her items as he pulled her hood over her head, telling her not to call the police, to which she said she would not. Then, he walked her toward her friend’s vehicle, stopped, and pushed her away, telling her to count to ten before removing the blindfold and that if her friend did pull off within ten seconds, he was going to start shooting. She waited before she ran away, removed her blindfold, and got in her friend’s vehicle. Her friend told her she had seen a man run away towards the woods in a red hoodie, which was believed to be Patterson. She called 911 and realized that he had taken $60 and her ID out of her purse. Officers arrived and were advised of the incident, as she gave them the blindfold for evidence and provided the phone number Patterson used to call her, which he previously used to place calls for service to his known address. They knew his identity due to him being the suspect in a recent rape that occurred on November 29th. She identified him through a photo lineup.
Then, on the night of January 23rd, Patterson contacted the second woman on a social networking app called Monkey Run. They began video chatting around 8 p.m. and discussed hanging out, so he provided transportation through a ride share to pick her up and bring her to his apartment. She advised officers that there no arrangements had been made for sex. She arrived at building one around 1 a.m. They went up the stairwell to the last apartment on the left, and when she got inside, he led her straight to the bedroom and made her sit on his air mattress. Then, Patterson left the room and returned with a handgun, causing her to try to run out of the room. He stopped her, hitting her in the head repeatedly with his pistol while stating, “I can’t believe you made me do this.” He tied her hands in front of her with a black strip of cloth, took her to the living room, and forced her to get on her knees before grabbing a knife from the kitchen to place near him, next to his gun. Patterson then told her that she “Better make him cum in five minutes, or he would kill her.” She performed oral sex on him until he ejaculated in her mouth, and then put on a condom and proceeded to rape her from behind vaginally. He forced her to take a shower at gunpoint, demanding that she wash her face well, especially around the mouth area. During the shower, he showed her bowls containing what she believed to be his urine and asked if she was going to drink it.
Once she was dressed, Patterson took her to the living room and questioned her, asking if she was sharing her location with anyone, to which she said yes, with her friends. Then, he pointed the gun at her head, told her to unlock her phone, went through it, deleted certain things to conceal any communication between them, and took $100 from her purse. Then, he took her ID and took a picture of her mother’s social media profile to ensure he would find her or her family if she reported the incident. Patterson ordered her transportation, and she left, telling the driver to speed away. He stopped at the BP on Old Hickory Boulevard for her, where she called the police around 3 a.m. She had a ligature mark with redness, swelling on her right hand, and a small laceration with bruising beside her left eye. Detectives responded to Vanderbilt Hospital and interviewed her, where she provided information that caused officers to believe Patterson attacked her due to previous rapes involving him and similar descriptions. They gave her the photo lineup they used on January 14th, and she positively identified him. Patterson was taken into custody for two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, and two counts of aggravated rape.
Tanner R Patterson was booked into the Metro Nashville Jail on January 24th, charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, and two counts of aggravated rape. A judicial commissioner set his bond at $385,000.
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