Victims identified, suspect charged in fatal crash
Brian Wilson, bwilson@dnj.com 2:31 p.m. CDT June 25, 2016
(Photo: RCSO)
MURFREESBORO — A 28-year-old man was charged with vehicular homicide after a 28-year-old Murfreesboro woman died in three-car wreck near the corner of Veterans Parkway and Highway 231 on Friday afternoon.
Garieon Simmons, 28, of Decherd, was booked into the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center early Saturday morning charged with vehicular homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, evading arrest, driving on a revoked license, violation of probation and being a habitual motor vehicle offender.
Tennessee Highway Patrol officers said Simmons stole a Cadillac in Coffee Coffee and sparked a high-speed police chase that ended when his vehicle slammed into the driver's side of a Nissan Altima driven by Jessica Campos, 28, of Murfreesboro around 4 p.m. Friday.
The victim's car went south on Highway 231 after being struck before landing off the highway, the report stated.
Campos died at the scene of the crash. An unidentified 7-month-old girl in her car was also hurt, the report said.
After striking Campos' vehicle, the Cadillac driven by Simmons went into the opposite lane and struck another vehicle head-on, then came to the stop off the roadway The driver of the third vehicle, Katrina Sadler, 27, was also hurt, the report stated.
The Manchester Times reported Simmons allegedly stolen the vehicle from the Coffee County Funeral Chapel and chase was given by the Coffee County Sheriff's Departmment. The pursuit traveled up Interstate 24 with the suspect traveling the wrong direction at times and at a high rate of speed.
The suspect exited the interstate in Murfreesboro.
Investigators believed Simmons was using drugs at the time of the crash, the report stated. Tests for Simmons' alcohol and drug levels were requested by state troopers, the report stated.
The suspect allegedly gave law enforcement a false name immediately after the crash, Plotzer said.
Simmons remained in jail Saturday morning on a bond of at least $127,500, according to jail records.
The conditions of Sadler and the infant injured in the wreck were not immediately known. Sadler was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, according to the THP report.
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High speed pursuit ends in 3-car crash, fatality; vehicular homicide charges filed
Posted on Friday, June 24, 2016 at 4:18 pm
By John Coffelt, staff writer
and Josh Peterson, publisher
Updated (8 a.m. June 25)
Charges of vehicular homicide have been filed against a Decherd man who led law enforcement on a high-speed pursuit from Coffee County to Rutherford County Friday, eventually ending in a three-car collision and the death of a 28-year-old woman.
Garieon Simmons (photo from Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office)
Garieon Simmons, 28, was charged with vehicular homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, driving on a revoked license, evading arrest, violation of probation and being a habitual motor vehicle offender after being booked into the Rutherford County Jail Saturday.
Simmons allegedly stole a black Cadillac Escalade from the Coffee County Funeral Chapel in Manchester Friday afternoon, which started a high-speed chase by Coffee County Sheriff’s Department deputies and, eventually, Rutherford County officials. According to scanner traffic during the chase, Simmons on a couple of occasions traveled the wrong way down Interstate-24 and the chase reached extremely high speeds.
The chase ended when Simmons exited the Interstate in Murfreesboro and slammed into the driver’s side of a Nissan Altima operated by Jessica Campos, 28, of Murfreesboro. Campos was pronounced dead at the scene. A 7-month-old girl in the car was hurt, according to THP. Simmons’ vehicle also struck another vehicle head-on operated by Katrina Sadler, 27, who was also injured. The conditions of the 7-month old and Sadler were not available.
Photo from the crash scene Friday afternoon on Highway 231. (Photo provided by the Daily News Journal)
“There was a pursuit that was started in the city (Manchester) by a Coffee County Sheriff’s Department deputy who came to be engaged in a pursuit,” stated Manchester Police Department assistant chief Adam Floied. “Manchester (PD) helped guard the intersections until [the pursuit] got on the interstate.”
The pursuit was initiated by Coffee County Sheriff’s Department investigator Billy Marcom, according to CCSD public information officer Edward Lucky Knott. Floied said that Manchester units disengaged from pursuit once it went on Interstate-24. Rutherford County deputies engaged once the chase reached Rutherford County.
Manchester resident Rebecca Carroll and her children were traveling west on I-24 to Murfreesboro when the pursuit approached from behind in a scene she described as “confusing.”
“I was headed to Murfreesboro and all of a sudden this black SUV came flying up behind me,” Carroll explained. “I was in the left lane and a semi was beside me [in the right lane] and there was really heavy traffic. There really wasn’t anything we could do. I saw a lot of lights and police cars were going around us on both sides, some unmarked cars, they were going in the grass to get around traffic. You could tell that people didn’t know what to do. They were going to the right of us and to the left of us. Everyone just slammed on their brakes.
“I don’t know how there weren’t more wrecks where we were,” added Carroll. “It was scary. Look, I get it, I know they are trying to get the bad guy [who stole a car.] But at what cost? It isn’t like he was driving around shooting at people. If they would have slowed down, he would have slowed down.”
Crash investigators have requested alcohol and drug levels for Simmons. He remains jailed on $127,500.
Original Story
One person is dead and a suspect in custody after a high-speed chase that began in Manchester Friday afternoon ended with a head-on collision in Murfreesboro.
One person has been confirmed dead after the suspect collided head-on with a vehicle on Highway 231 in Murfreesboro, ending the two-county chase. The suspect, identified as a black male by Manchester Police Department assistant chief Adam Floied, was taken to a hospital and his condition has not been released.
Floied said that the vehicle being pursued was allegedly stolen from Coffee County Funeral Chapel on State Route 55 in Manchester.
“There was a pursuit that was started in the city by a Coffee County Sheriff’s Department deputy who came to be engaged in a pursuit,” stated Floied. “Manchester (PD) helped guard the intersections until [the pursuit] got on the interstate.”
The pursuit was initiated by Coffee County Sheriff’s Department investigator Billy Marcom, according to CCSD public information officer Edward Lucky Knott. Floied said that Manchester units disengaged from pursuit once it went on Interstate-24. Rutherford County deputies engaged once the chase reached Rutherford County.
Manchester resident Rebecca Carroll and her children were traveling west on I-24 to Murfreesboro when the pursuit approached from behind in a scene she described as “confusing.”
“I was headed to Murfreesboro and all of a sudden this black SUV came flying up behind me,” Carroll explained. “I was in the left lane and a semi was beside me [in the right lane] and there was really heavy traffic. There really wasn’t anything we could do. I saw a lot of lights and police cars were going around us on both sides, some unmarked cars, they were going in the grass to get around traffic. You could tell that people didn’t know what to do. They were going to the right of us and to the left of us. Everyone just slammed on their brakes.
“I don’t know how there weren’t more wrecks where we were,” added Carroll. “It was scary. Look, I get it, I know they are trying to get the bad guy [who stole a car.] But at what cost? It isn’t like he was driving around shooting at people. If they would have slowed down, he would have slowed down.”
The investigation into the theft of the vehicle is ongoing by Manchester City Police Department.
The currently unidentified subject at times traveled the wrong way down Highway 41 North and I-24 while evading police, according to Coffee County Communication scanner traffic.
Two other minor crashes were reported involving the fleeing subject.
(Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that MPD engaged when the pursuit entered I-24. The story should have reported that MPD “disengaged” when the pursuit entered I-24. We apologize for the error. )