Two Elizabethton men are facing charges after a car struck and damaged a building Monday afternoon.
Jerry Coleman, 21, 1357 Broad Street Extension, Elizabethton, was arrested Monday by Elizabethton Police Department Cpl. Sarah Ellison and charged with driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, violation of implied consent, evading arrest, possession of a counterfeit controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Justin Frazier, 24, 1357 Broad Street Extension, Elizabethton, was arrested Monday by Ellison and charged with DUI, aiding and abetting DUI, leaving the scene of an accident, possession of a counterfeit controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to a report by Ellison, officers responded to the area of 141 Hudson Drive in reference to a hit and run accident where witnesses described the fleeing vehicle as a white Dodge Neon and were able to provide a tag number for the vehicle.
Ellison said while she was traveling on West G Street near Hudson Drive she saw the suspect vehicle, with obvious damage to the passenger front of the vehicle, driving eastbound on West G Street. Ellison said she attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle but the driver “accelerated and quickly turned south on Allen Avenue.”
The vehicle then pulled into the driveway of a residence on Allen Avenue and Ellison made contact with the driver, identified as Coleman, and the vehicle’s passenger, identified as Frazier.
“Both subjects were obviously intoxicated,” Ellison said.
While Ellison detained the two men at the residence on Allen Avenue, other officers had responded to the scene of the accident on Hudson Drive to investigate the crash.
During the investigation, a witness to the incident provided a written statement, identifying Frazier as the individual who was operating the vehicle.
The witness told Ellison that Frazier appeared intoxicated and “failed to negotiate the parking lot and struck the masonry post, attached to the building, in front of the business.”
Officers spoke with Frazier and Coleman, who both said following the accident “they changed drivers at an undetermined location,” Ellison said. According to the report, both Frazier and Coleman told police they had been smoking a synthetic substance called “K2” which is a synthetic form of marijuana.
Ellison said she conducted field sobriety tests on the two and both Coleman and Frazier performed the tests poorly, “in a manner consistent with an impaired subject not fit or able to safely operate a motor vehicle.”
During a routine search of the vehicle, Ellison said officers located a “drug smoking pipe” along with a plastic bag containing a “synthetic substance believed to be ‘K2.’”
Both subjects were transported to the Carter County Detention Center. Frazier was later released, but Coleman was being held at the detention center on a $8,200 bond. Both are scheduled to appear in Carter County General Sessions Court on Oct. 20.