Near-miss yields charge

Posted: Friday, March 9, 2012 6:54 pm

The Messenger, March 9, 2012
A Bradford man was charged with driving under the influence after his vehicle allegedly nearly struck a Martin police car on University Street in Martin.
Tyler R. White, 22, was arrested on a charge of DUI in connection with an incident that allegedly occurred shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday on University Street near the University of Tennessee at Martin’s Administration Building.
According to a Martin Police Department report, two Martin police officers were traveling eastbound in the inside lane of travel in a marked police patrol car when they observed a westbound vehicle traveling directly toward them in their lane of travel. The driver, police Lt. Phillip Fuqua, had to flash the headlights to keep the other driver from striking the police vehicle, patrol officer James Merrell reported.
Police reported that when the other driver noticed he was in the wrong lane, he jumped the grass median into the westbound travel lane on University Street. Fuqua activated his emergency lights and the other vehicle finally came to a stop after traveling several feet down the road.
The patrol officer reported he detected the odor of an intoxicating beverage when he came in contact with the other driver and he said the driver indicated he had consumed about six alcoholic beverages prior to driving. White was taken into custody after being asked to perform a battery of field sobriety tests.
Police reported White also claimed he had used marijuana prior to driving. As a result, he was taken to a hospital for a blood test to be sent to a lab for examination, with those results pending.
White was transported to the Weakley County Detention Facility.