A local man has been accused of driving under the influence and wanton endangerment after he allegedly crashed a golf cart, injuring three people, and then fled.
Marshall County Sheriff Kevin Byars said just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday, deputies responded to a report of an injury crash involving golf cart on Lovers Lane near Kentucky Lake. Upon arrival, deputies discovered a golf cart wrecked in a ditch and three injured people laying in the roadway and ditch. The driver, identified through investigation as 19-year-old Joshua Johnson of Benton, fled the scene on foot, according to police reports. Police believe he was intoxicated at the time of the incident.
While on scene at the accident, Byars said dispatch received another call regarding a single-vehicle crash involving a white SUV about two miles from the incident.
“A neighbor had witnessed Mr. Johnson get into the SUV and drive away,” Byars said. “And they found the SUV wrecked, and he fled again.”
Deputies were unable to locate Johnson after he fled the second time. The case has been turned over to the county attorney’s office, pending charges of second-degree wanton endangerment and DUI.
Police say the three injured riders – Caitlin Hatley, Eric Thomas and Andrew Emmerson, all of Nashville, Tenn. – were taken to Marshall County Hospital for treatment of injuries not deemed life-threatening and released. Byars said they faced no charges in the incident.