A Georgia man and a Powell man who were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Knox County were killed in a four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in Anderson County late Friday morning, authorities said. A short section of Clinton Highway was closed for about five hours between Mehaffey Road and Old Clinton Pike as the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the fatal crash, which also injured four people. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A Georgia man and a Powell man who were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Knox County were killed in a four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in Anderson County late Friday morning, authorities said.
Four other people were injured in the crash, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The men who died were driver Roy Simmons, 29, of Helena, Georgia, and passenger Charles Miller, 25, of Powell, Tennessee, the THP said in a fatal crash report. The two men were in a 2001 Ford TSS driven by Simmons.
The crash was reported at about 11:32 a.m. Friday on Clinton Highway near the intersection with Old Clinton Pike in Anderson County, near the Anderson-Knox county line, the THP said.
The fatal crash report said a Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy was trying to stop the car driven by Simmons in the northbound lanes of Clinton Highway near West Beaver Creek in Knox County, but the car fled. While fleeing, the car lost control and crossed the center line while going left around a curve, the crash report said.
The car driven by Simmons hit a 2005 Mitsubishi driven south by Holly Henry, 44, of Oak Ridge, striking it in the front left side and causing it to go off the road, the report said. Henry was wearing a seat belt and was not injured.
The car driven by Simmons then hit a second southbound vehicle in a head-on collision. That 2008 Toyota was driven by Misty Tanner, 33, of Knoxville. She was wearing a seat belt and was injured. So were her two passengers, Caprice McElmore, 56, of Clinton, and McKinley Tanner, 2, of Knoxville. Both were either wearing a seat belt or were in a child restraint device.
After that second collision, the Toyota driven by Tanner was hit in the rear by a 2015 Mercedes GL3 driven by Nancy Donsbach, 61, of Knoxville, who was also southbound. She was wearing a seat belt but was injured, the THP said. The vehicle she was driving went off the right side of the road.
That last collision caused the northbound car driven by Simmons and the southbound Toyota driven by Tanner to spin around in the road, the THP said. While Tanner’s Toyota was spinning, it hit the passenger side of the Ford TSS (the car that Simmons and Miller were in), pushing the passenger compartment into the driver compartment, according to the report.
No charges or citations are pending. Drug and alcohol tests have been requested, which is routine in fatal crashes.
The crash was investigated by THP Trooper Aaron McGhee.
The THP said neither Simmons nor Miller was wearing a seat belt. Seat belts would have made a difference for Simmons but not for Miller, the THP said.
Other agencies that responded to the crash were the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Anderson County EMS, Anderson County Rescue Squad, and Claxton Fire Department. Rural Metro EMS, Rural Metro Fire, and the Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad responded as well.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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