CAMPBELL COUNTY, Tenn. — The Campbell County Sheriff's Office arrested a man for driving under the influence after finding an abandoned pick-up truck wrapped around a tree Saturday night.
According to deputies, officers responded to a call of a vehicle crashing into a tree and a mailbox around 8:50 p.m. at 419 Hiwassee View Drive in the Pinecrest area.
Deputies said they found an abandoned truck registered to a man named Thomas Thompson wrapped around a tree and disabled from the crash.
After talking to a person passing by who recognized the truck, deputies said they learned Thompson had just left a house party at the end of the street and then walked back to the home after crashing the truck.
When police arrived at the home, they said they found Thompson lying in bed covered in vomit with strong odor of alcohol coming from him.
Deputies said the home owner told them Thompson had left the home in his truck and returned with injuries appearing intoxicated.
Deputies arrested Thompson and took him back to the crash scene, where they said he refused to give information and claimed he had been asleep and did not remember.
CCSO searched the truck and found a pistol in the driver seat along with nine rounds of ammunition in the magazine.
Thompson was taken to the Campbell County Jail for testing, where deputies said he refused to take a field sobriety test or consent to a breath or blood test.
He is charged with leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence, violation of implied consent, possession of a handgun under the influence, filing a false report, and failure to exercise due care. He is scheduled to appear in court on February 9, 2021.
