Multiple drivers are facing alcohol-related charges after the Carter County Sheriff’s Department and the Elizabethton Police Department responded to a trio of calls.
The first call came at 6:07 p.m. Friday from the Danner Subdivision in Stoney Creek.
CCSD Deputy Paul Morrell responded to an accident at the first bridge on Danner Road where a vehicle left the roadway and landed on its top in the water below.
When he arrived, Morrell said he found the driver, Deborah Smith, 54, 110 Ed Davis Road, Elizabethton, being escorted away from the scene by emergency personnel. Morrell questioned her about the accident and noted that Smith refused treatment.
“I further observed an unopened 16 ounce can of Natural Light beer and an unopened bottle of clear liquid lying next to the site of the crash,” Morrell wrote. “While speaking with Mrs. Smith, I observed the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath.”
He wrote he asked her if she was under the influence of any medication or alcohol, to which she responded that she had taken pain medication at 8 a.m. that day and had a beer at 10 a.m.
He continued that he asked her to perform field sobriety tests, which he said she “performed unsatisfactorily” and refused to consent to a blood or breath test.
Smith was charged with driving under the influence first offense and violation of the implied consent law.
The second incident occurred at around 11:30 p.m. Friday when the CCSD was told to be on the lookout for a green Nissan truck without a tag, possibly driven by an impaired driver, and which also had two small children inside the vehicle.
CCSD Deputy Tylor Johnson said he spotted the truck when it ran a red light at Blue Springs Road and Highway 91, and he pulled it over.
“Upon making contact with the driver of the vehicle, who came to be Emma Deyton, I noticed there were two small children in the car,” Johnson said. “I also noticed a strong odor commonly associated with alcohol.”
Johnson had Deyton, 28, 106 Bank Drive, Fall Branch, get out of the truck to perform field sobriety tests, which he said she did “poorly” on. She consented to a breath test that he said registered .152.
Deyton was placed in custody and charged with driving under the influence first offense and two counts of reckless endangerment. The children were released to a family member.
A third incident – and second crash – occurred just before 9 p.m. on Saturday at the intersection of Broad Street and Lynn Avenue.
EPD Officer Ryan Brackett responded to the accident, where the driver of a black Buick Rendezvous said his car had been hit by a gold Ford Taurus in the intersection. The Taurus traveled onto the McDonald’s parking lot where witnesses said two women and two men ran from the car.
The driver was described as wearing a white tank top and black shorts, and was identified as Brittany Marie Bowen, 19, 429 West G St.
At around 10 p.m. EPD Patrolman Matt Taylor observed subjects matching the description of those in the accident walking on McArthur Street. Brackett said he approached the woman and asked for her name. She identified herself as Bowen.
“I asked Ms. Bowen if she knew why we were trying to locate her, at which time she advised because of the wreck,” Brackett wrote in the report.
He added he could smell alcohol on Bowen and asked her if she had been drinking and how old she was, to which she responded that she had and that she was 19 years old. He administered field sobriety tests, which Bowen completed “satisfactorily.”
Bowen was arrested and charged with drinking under the age of 21, leaving the scene of an accident and violation of the financial responsibility law.