BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — UPDATE: Alcoa Highway reopened at approximately 9:18 a.m. EDT, according to Alcoa Police.
Northbound lanes of Alcoa Highway near the Topside Road intersection were closed Sunday after an early morning crash involving a possibly impaired driver, according to the Alcoa Police Department.
According to APD, officers were chasing a possibly impaired driver on Alcoa Highway at around 3:20 a.m. EDT. The crash report from the department said officers saw a reckless driver moving at a high rate of speed and attempted to catch up to the vehicle.
The report said the car, a 2002 Nissan Maxima, was "displaying signs of an impaired driver by failing to maintain their lane of travel."
Authorities said the vehicle then crashed into the back of a box truck, causing the truck to flip and hit the side of a bridge wall. The driver of the box truck was identified as 39-year-old Yoendry Felipe Aragon-Prieto from North Carolina, according to the report. He was transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with minor injuries.
"The Nissan Maxima failed to negotiate a curve on Alcoa Highway at Rivertrace Boulevard at a high rate of speed and struck the rear of a commercial box van, causing the box van to overturn and strike the bridge wall," the report said.
According to police, the suspect, 41-year-old Jerome Robinson, was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. The report said Robinson was in critical but stable condition and has been charged with the following:
- Driving while license revoked for DUI
- Failure to maintain traffic lane
- Speeding
- Reckless endangerment
- Evading arrest by vehicle
- Vehicular assault
- Lights required on vehicles
- Driving under the influence
Drivers were urged to use alternative routes, including Old Knoxville Highway or Pellissippi Parkway, as crews worked to clean up the crash.
"The Tennessee Highway Patrol Critical Incident Response Team was requested to conduct the crash investigation," the report said.
This is a developing story. WBIR is working to learn more information.