The Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office lost two patrol cars to two separate crashes within 24 hours — thanks to allegedly distracted drivers.
CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Allegedly inattentive drivers have smashed two Cheatham County squad cars in the span of just 24 hours.
Nobody was killed, but deputies have wondered what it would to take to make people take the issue of distracted driving seriously. Authorities with the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office shared multiple pictures and body camera footage with News 2 showing the two separate incidents.
The first happened in the early morning on September 28. That’s when lieutenant Chris Gilmore told News 2 that an off-duty deputy was on his way home when he spotted a vehicle that was off to the side on Interstate 24.
The deputy went to check on the driver. The deputy was slowing down and pulling off the road — with blue lights activated — when a vehicle traveling at highway speed collided with the back of the cruiser. Gilmore said that the crash could have been tragic had the deputy been exiting at the moment of impact.
Then, just 24 hours later, there was another incident involving a cruiser. Several area fire, Tennessee Highway Patrol officers and other first responders were on Interstate 24 around Hope Road as they worked a multiple-injury crash.
Cheatham County deputies had their squad cars blocking the highway, lights blazing. Cones has also been deployed. According Gilmore, cars were being diverted onto a nearby ramp.
“My deputy had gone out. He set cones across the interstate,” Gilmore said. “He had his patrol car positioned at an angle with his blue lights and equipment on.”
As the deputy walked back to his squad car, he saw a car barreling at him. He began backing up when the driver struck the passenger side of the squad car, smashing in the side. The car rolled into the median, airbags deploying in both vehicles.
“Somebody just totaled out my patrol car,” a deputy said over the radio.
The deputy then walked to the driver’s side of the car and checked in on the driver, concealed in body camera footage by airbags. The deputy asked the driver what happened and if they had seen the patrol car blockade.
“If I was walking ten seconds faster, [you would] probably going to jail for vehicular assault,” the deputy said in the body camera footage. “…Luckily, I saw you not stopping and ran out of the way.”
“People just aren’t paying attention while they are out here driving on the road like they should,” Gilmore told News 2. “This could be a loved one that gets hit next. When does it stop? We don’t know what it is going to take to fix it.”
These are not the first incidents involving near misses for the department. Another vehicle was struck in August.
No officers or motorists were injured in either of these cases. Both drivers involved in the incidents were cited. However, these are not the first incidents involving near misses for the department.