Pursued by police, man crashes into trailers

By Jessica Stith
of The Daily Times Staff

An Alcoa police pursuit on Saturday afternoon ended when a suspect crashed his vehicle into two trailers on Oakdale Street and then fled from his vehicle.

Luis Fernando Ferraro, 24, Cecilia Drive, Maryville, was arrested by Alcoa police officers at 2:40 p.m. Saturday on charges of felony reckless endangerment, evading arrest and resisting arrest. Alcoa officers cited him with driving under the influence of an intoxicant and no driver's license.

Blount County Sheriff's deputies also charged him with leaving the scene of an accident with damages and cited him with no proof of insurance.

Alcoa Police Officer Ed Bowman reported that he responded to the call of a possible impaired driver in a white Ford Explorer on Hall Road near Joule Street. He made contact with the SUV at the intersection of Calderwood Street and Bessemer Street as it was traveling toward Middlesettlements Road.

As Bowman followed the SUV, he noticed that the driver crossed the white line at the side of the road and began straddling it. The driver straddled the line for about 100 yards, suddenly hit his brakes, swerved back into the lane, hit his brakes again, crossed the center line and then accelerated quickly.

Bowman began to believe that the driver was impaired and attempted to stop the SUV, an Alcoa police report said. As Bowman turned on his emergency lights, the driver crossed the center line again. When Bowman initiated his siren, the vehicle slowed to a stop at Middlesettlements Road at the 129 Bypass.

The officer asked the driver to proceed to the parking lot of Pellissippi State Technical Community College over his cruiser's public address (P.A.) system. Bowman reported that the driver did not seem to understand so he began to get out of his cruiser.

"I attempted to exit my vehicle a couple of times and each time I tried, the Explorer would lurch forward as if he was attempting to leave or proceed to the parking lot," Bowman reported.

Pursuit begins

The vehicle began rolling forward and Bowman assumed it was going to the parking lot, the report said. Instead, the vehicle made a left turn onto Oakdale Street, suddenly accelerated at "attempted to flee from the stop."

"When the vehicle accelerated, it lost control, left the right side of the roadway striking a mailbox and (traveling) into a ditch," Bowman reported. "The Explorer continued out of the ditch traveling completely across the roadway -- leaving the left side of the roadway -- almost striking a tree before regaining control."

The driver regained control and continued traveling on Oakdale Street, ignoring the officer's lights and siren. Bowman reported that the vehicle was "all over the road" and was traveling at a "very high rate of speed with no regard to the safety of the residents of the neighborhood or other motorists traveling on Oakdale Street."

For safety reasons, Bowman decided to stop the pursuit. However, the officer kept traveling in the SUV's direction because he knew the road had a sharp turn ahead and believed the vehicle would not make the turn.

"As I approached where the bad turn is located, I observed the suspect vehicle rolling through the trailer park, adjacent to the turn," Bowman reported.

The SUV was unoccupied and several residents at the mobile home park on Oakdale Street were attempting to stop the vehicle.

"The vehicle had struck two trailers in the park and I assumed the driver had fled on foot," Bowman report.

The officer discovered the man had fled his SUV and Bowman found the man jumping a fence. Bowman was able to catch up with the man. After "a short physical confrontation," Bowman took Ferraro into custody. The officer reported that Ferraro smelled of alcohol, was slurring his words while speaking Spanish and was unsteady on his feet.

"I had to literally carry the suspect most of the time because he was so unsteady on his feet," the report said.

According to a sheriff's office report, the driver caused $100 of damage to a mailbox, $1,000 of damage to a trailer and $500 of damage to another trailer during the pursuit.

Ferraro was being held in lieu of bonds totaling $12,000 pending a 9 a.m. Thursday hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court.