TN trooper crash chasing sportbike wheelie artist

"If I wanted to kill YOU, all I'd have to do is don't let anybody see me do it, don't tell any body I did it, and hide the murder weapon!"
-Mike Nassios, Knox County homicide prosecutor, poking his finger at The Dragonater before his wife's client's team of assassins but a bullet hole in The Dragonater's car

Many upset after high-speed THP chase injures 5


MCEWEN, TN (WSMV) - Call it too close for comfort. A 10-year-old boy was nearly hit by a speeding police car, and now his mother and others are asking if the high-speed chase through a school zone was necessary.

A young man was seen speeding on a motorcycle Monday through downtown McEwen, so a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper wanted to issue a traffic ticket. But soon, it became a high-speed chase through a school zone, and several bus stops right as school was dismissing.

Marcus Crews had just gotten off the bus around 3:10 p.m. and did what always does. He went to the curb to grab the mail for his mom.

But then Marcus was looking at a trooper flying down the road, coming toward him at high speed.

"It was a big smash,"he said.

His mother, Chrissy Crews, was inside the house in her living room.

"It was very terrifying. The next thing I heard was a big crash, and my son screaming," she said.

The THP confirms the chase started when Trooper Jason Clarke saw a young man speeding and doing wheelies on a motorcycle.

The chase continued downtown in front of McEwen High School just minutes after dismissal, then it traveled along a road where a school bus was letting children off.

The trooper rear-ended and sideswiped one car, and then narrowly missed a head-on collision with another before spinning into a roadside ditch.

Five people were hospitalized in the crashes.

The whole thing was unacceptable for Chrissy Crews, who says she can't believe the trooper put so many people at risk to chase the speeding rider.

"The other children that were in the car were just leaving school. It was pretty much ping pong between them," Crews said. "It was very dangerous that he was flying down here at the time," she said.

THP officials are investigating the crash and told Channel 4 they would not defend or criticize the high-speed chase until the investigation was completed.

The THP released a statement Wednesday, saying: "The safety and welfare of the motoring public is our top priority. It appears the investigating trooper followed the department's policy regarding vehicle pursuits. The investigation is ongoing, and the circumstances and facts of this case will be reviewed thoroughly."

The family of the five people who went to the hospital said they are very upset and have hired a lawyer, saying the safety of the public was obviously not the first consideration in the chase.

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State Trooper, Four Others Injured In Crash


MCEWEN, Tenn.- A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer was injured in a crash Monday afternoon, while attempting to pull over a dangerous motorcycle rider.

A spokesperson with THP said the crash happened just before 3 p.m. on Old Nashville Highway, north of McEwen.

A State Trooper attempted to make a traffic stop of a motorcycle rider who was popping wheelies while riding down Hwy 70. The rider refused to stop and upon topping a hill on Old Nashville Highway, went in between two cars. The following trooper came up the hill, and attempting to stop to miss the cars ending up sideswiping one of the vehicles.

Officials said the Trooper then lost control of his patrol car and hit another vehicle that was traveling southbound. The impact caused the patrol unit to spin into a ditch.

The Trooper suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Four other people also suffered minor injuries as a result of the crash and were transported to the Horizon Medical Center in Dickson.

Police said the motorcyclist who caused the accident remains at large.

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State Trooper Causes Wreck Chasing Motorcyclist on Old Nashville Highway


It is rare that those employed by State Agencies, whose jobs focus on maintaining the safety of drivers, are the ones involved in the accidents that occur on Tennessee’s highways, but a recent collision in the Nashville area brings attention to this very real possibility.

On March 6th, a Tennessee State Trooper noticed a reckless motorcycle rider wreaking havoc by popping wheelies along Hwy 70 near McEwen. Once pursued by the Trooper, the reckless driver neglected to yield and was able to escape by dodging between two cars atop a hill on Old Nashville Highway.

The chase ended as the Trooper stopped abruptly to avoid colliding with the two cars that the motorcycle had slipped between. In doing so, the Trooper spun out of control and swiped the side of one of the vehicles, crashing into a second vehicle headed southbound.

While the State Trooper was treated for minor injuries at the scene of the car crash, four additional people involved in the wreck were taken to Horizon Medical Center in Dickson, Tennessee to be treated for minor injuries as well. The motorcycle rider’s fate remains undetermined, as he/she has not yet been identified.

While it seems that the Tennessee State Trooper didn’t exhibit any extreme negligence in this case, highways can be a dangerous place, where even those trying to maintain drivers’ safety can put others at risk for accident or injury.