Burchett Refused Saudi Check Following Traffic Incident: Report

KNOXVILLE, TN - Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett may be running for Congress, but there’s one check he won’t be accepting. A representative of the Saudi Arabian government has offered Burchett a check to cover damages his automobile received when a Saudi student pounded his car during an apparent psychotic incident. “I’ll drive it with a dent,” Burchett said.

Nofi Hassan Alatyah, 19, attacked both cars and drivers, including Burchett near the intersection of Lake Loudon Boulevard and Neyland Drive on Halloween, the knoxnews.com reported. The Saudi citizen had only recently enrolled in the University of Tennessee to study nursing. He is in America on a student visa.

The mayor said he did not know Alatyah’s citizenhip status until the Saudi Embassay called him with an unspecified job offer, followed by an offer to cover the damages to his vehicle. “I’m running for Congress, and the Saudi Embassy wants to send me a check?” said Burchett, a Republican who is seeking the U. S. House of Representatives seat of retiring Congressman Jimmy Duncan in the 2018 election. “I’ll just drive around with a dent.” On the third call, Burchett said he got an apology, which he accepted.

See the full story at knoxnews.com

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