Crossville police responded to Dollar General on Highway 127 North just inside the city for a male reportedly striking a child. The report states multiple witnesses told officers 54-year-old James Dean Adams hit the 5-year-old repeatedly then violently shoved the boy into his car seat. Adams, who is a relative of the minor, told officers the child was being “unruly and pestering him” prior to the attack. The mother of the child was inside the store at the time of the incident. Adams was arrested for child abuse and taken to jail. The Department of Children’s Services was notified of the act.

The black lines in the arrest report below is covering up the child and the mothers name: