He was a big time developer and businessman, who quickly became the poster boy for domestic violence.
David Chase lived a nightmare - falsely accused of beating his ex-girlfriend. The District Attorney finally dropped the charges, but the damage was done. Now he's sharing his story publicly for the very first time in an exclusive interview.
"They made me out to be a monster. Attacked my credibility. Attacked my character," said David Chase who finally wants to set the record straight. He also wants people held accountable for what he endured.
"It was like living in the twilight zone," said Chase.
Two years ago Chase was riding high, lauded for brokering a deal to bring Virgin Hotels to Nashville. "I worked on the Virgin deal since 2008," said Chase.
Then in an instant, he was out. This, after his ex-girlfriend had him arrested for assault and strangulation. "She was upset because I took somebody else to the Swan Ball," said Chase, who added she was out for revenge after the break-up and also after money.
He strongly denies ever assaulting the woman. "Absolutely not. Nothing physical. I told her to get out of my house."
But, prosecutors moved on the case. Chase was high profile. Making things worse, a judge released him from jail before a 12-hour hold. He went back to his apartment where his ex-girlfriend reported he attacked her again - and it made headlines.
"I got hung, drawn and quartered and crucified in the first two weeks," said Chase.
Chase said Metro police early on did literally nothing to investigate the validity of the charges against him, ignoring obvious evidence, security video, inconsistent statements, which would have cleared him.
The case dragged on for 14 months with his life in limbo. "It went on way to long," said Chase.
Furious with the conduct of police, Chase filed a federal lawsuit accusing the police department of violating his civil rights.
Four months later, District Attorney Glenn Funk announced all charges would be dropped, essentially because the ex-girlfriend lied. Do you think she should face charges? “Absolutely," said Chase. But that didn't happen, and there's more.
Chase says the D-A told him he'd only drop the domestic assault charges if Chase dropped his federal lawsuit against the police.
"I mean I haven't looked it up, but that sure sounds like blackmail to me," said Chase.
He dropped the lawsuit, but Chase said he may now consider refilling it. The charges against him are gone, but the damage is done costing him his job, his career.
"There were 180 negative stories about me and the one story that she lied and made it up," said Chase.
Chase may have dropped the lawsuit against Metro Police, but he has filed a defamation suit against his ex-girlfriend and eight other people claiming they sought "malicious prosecution."
Late today – District Attorney General Glenn Funk filed a $200 million lawsuit against NewsChannel 5 and our Chief Investigative reporter, Phil Williams. The lawsuit alleges among other things defamation, civil conspiracy, and violation of the consumer protection act.
To read the complete lawsuit, click here. NewsChannel 5 stands by our story.
