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A woman in East Tennessee is facing more than a dozen charges after she reportedly drove the wrong-way on a Tennessee highway.
Police in Chattanooga were led on a chase down Interstate 24 Eastbound at the US-27 Junction on Tuesday (December 28) afternoon by a woman driving a red pickup truck. According to News Channel 9, the miles-long chase began around 5 p.m. on Highway 27 when an accident left the truck with two flat tires.
During the chase, police said the woman, later identified as 41-year-old Rachel Lynn Hicks of Dunlap, struck five civilian vehicles and two law enforcement vehicles before eventually coming to a stop after driving the wrong way down I-24. According to an affidavit, the truck weaved through three lanes of traffic "with no regard for other vehicles on the highway," even reaching speeds of 60 mph. Officers finally stopped the truck by using two patrol vehicles to pin it to the median.
Video of the chase as well as footage from the aftermath of the crash can be found here.
Hicks reportedly refused to exit the vehicle, so officer pulled her out of the truck and onto the ground. They claimed to smell alcohol and asked if she had been drinking, to which she told officers she had two 20-ounce bottles before driving.
Hicks was taken into custody and is facing nearly 20 charges: driving under the influence, evading arrest, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, left of center violation, resisting arrest, failure to render aid, failure to report accident, and driving the wrong direction on one-way road as well as three counts of aggravated assault, five counts of leaving the scene of an accident, and two counts of vandalism/malicious mischief.