Nashville Man on Bond for Domestic Violence Charged for Violent Robbery and Arson of a South Nashville Store

NASHVILLE - Pardrae Gooch, 38, of Nashville, Tennessee, was charged by a federal grand jury yesterday with robbery affecting interstate commerce, using a fire to commit a felony and damaging a building by fire, announced Acting United States Attorney Thomas J. Jaworski for the Middle District of Tennessee.

According to court documents and other publicly available information, on May 29, 2024, Gooch entered S. Fashion Clothing Store in South Nashville and brutally assaulted the lone female employee, Victim 1, choking her until she lost consciousness, hitting her, and then pushing her into a bathroom in the back of the store. Once in the bathroom, the defendant struggled with Victim 1 over her cell phone, hitting her again. Gooch then stole the employee's phone and car keys and fled in her vehicle. Before leaving the store, he lit a pile of clothes in the bathroom on fire, attempting to burn the store down with the unconscious victim trapped inside.

Metro Nashville police officers and fire fighters responded to the store after witnesses called 911. They located the victim, who was then transported by ambulance to a hospital where she was diagnosed with a cranial fracture and other injuries. The Nashville Fire Department successfully extinguished the fire, but the store remained closed for multiple days due to the damage caused to the building and the store's property.

At the time of this incident, Gooch was on bond for domestic violence related arrests involving two women. Before allegedly committing these crimes, he was arrested 8 days earlier for violating an order of protection.

If convicted on all counts, Gooch faces a mandatory minimum of sentence of 15 years and up to 20 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, and the Nashville Fire Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn D. Risinger and Emily Petro are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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