Police chase ends in crash
Published 8:55 pm Wednesday, May 16, 2007
A 19-year-old Tennessee man faces numerous charges — including drunk driving — after a high-speed chase that ended when his vehicle flipped onto a Limestone County yard Tuesday night.
Gregory Adam Dollins of Henryville Road, Ethridge, Tenn., was arrested at 10:45 p.m. after losing control of his 1997 Ford Explorer on Daveen Drive.
No one was injured.
The driver was traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph, authorities said.
Dollins is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving, driving while license suspended, no insurance and attempting to elude police.
“We don’t know why he ran, but he was drinking and did not have a driver’s license or insurance,” said Athens Police Capt. Marty Bruce. “His blood-alcohol level with .11 and at that level he is legally drunk.”
During the chase, the suspect narrowly missed hitting a police cruiser after the he turned around and headed back out of a dead-end street.
Police said the chase started at 10:15 p.m. on Vine Street when Officer Jason Threet saw a suspicious vehicle driving through the neighborhood.
“The suspect took off and Officer Threet gave chase,” Bruce said. “He went west on Washington Street and then hit Market Street and then south on Hine Street. He then turned onto Tower Street, which is a dead-end street. He turned around, barely missed Officer Shelby Castro and hit Hine (Street) again. He took U.S. 72 West at speeds of more than 100 mph. He went into the parking lot at Calvary Baptist Church just past West End Market and into a nearby field.
“He came out of the field and hit Reid Road. He went south and turned onto Ham Road and then north on Blackburn Road. He ended up on Daveen Drive, where he wrecked.”
Dollins hit two mailboxes before losing control and flipping his SUV, which was upside down in a yard when authorities arrived on the scene, Bruce said.
During the chase, five units from the Athens Police Department joined in, along with units from the Sheriff’s Department and state troopers.