3 days, 3 hospital trips for Tenn. man

It should have been a good week for Tony Hicks, his first days of freedom after a year in jail for assault, theft and burglary. But on Sunday, the day after he got out, Hicks told police that a woman waiting for him outside his apartment hit him with a car, and he went to a hospital.

Then on Monday, Hicks told police a man with a knife broke into his apartment, robbed him and hit him in the head with a coffee mug. He was taken to a hospital.

On Tuesday, Hicks was in a hospital for a third straight day. This time it was for a gunshot wound, and he didn't have to tell police what happened _ they were the ones who shot him.

Hicks, 42, was ordered held Thursday on $100,000 bail pending a hearing next week on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated robbery.

Cornered on Tuesday night in a dusty lot behind his apartment, Hicks told officers investigating a convenience store robbery that he had a gun and threatened to shoot, according to a police report. When he began a countdown, officers shot him in the lower torso.

Hicks turned out not to have a gun, but he did have a knife, officers said.

He said in court Thursday that he didn't rob the store but ran from officers for another reason.

It wasn't the first time he'd faced off with police. Hicks' criminal record includes a past shootout with officers, Detective Bill Matthews said.

Police said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was investigating the most recent shooting. Two of the Athens officers involved have temporarily been assigned to administrative work.

Athens, with about 14,000 people, is about 52 miles southwest of Knoxville.