A Carter County Sheriff’s deputy is recovering at a local hospital after crashing her police cruiser on a wet road Monday afternoon.
Sheriff Dexter Lunceford confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that Deputy Tonya Range is still receiving treatment at a local hospital for injuries she suffered in the accident.
“My understanding is she has a few broken bones, but other than that she will recover,” Lunceford said. “She’s pretty beaten and banged up.”
When Lunceford spoke with the Elizabethton Star on Tuesday, he said he had not yet visited Range at the hospital to get an update on her injuries, but he was going to visit her later in the day.
Range serves as the School Resource Officer at Cloudland Elementary School. She also serves as one of the program sponsors for the Clean Teens, a group of model students sponsored by the Sheriff’s Office to reach out to younger students with positive messages, such as litter prevention and anti-bullying campaigns.
Lunceford said Range was on-duty at the time of the accident.
“She left an after school program and was on her way to meet with the parent of a student and a teacher regarding an issue they were having,” Lunceford said.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol conducted the investigation into the crash involving Range.
According to the THP, Range was involved in a single-vehicle accident on Highway 19E near the intersection of that road with Church Street in Hampton shortly after 4 p.m. on Monday.
Range was traveling North on Highway 19E and while negotiating a curve, her patrol car began to hydroplane. The car left the roadway to the right side and collided with a fence and then a concrete wall.
The Carter County County Rescue Squad responded to the scene, and emergency responders extricated Range from her patrol car before transporting her to the hospital for treatment.
In the report released by the THP, the officer investigating the crash noted it was raining at the time of the accident, and there was standing water on the roadway. According to the report, no charges are being filed in connection with the wreck.