Police apprehend Columbia driver following chase

Theresa Dawn Duke, age 45, of 1010 Dalton Street in Columbia was arrested by Lawrenceburg Police officers on charges that include evading arrest, reckless endangerment, possession of Schedule II narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving on a revoked license.

According to department reports the incident arose when an officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop for violation of the window tint law. In addition, he reports that the tail light covers were obstructing the view of the brake lights, and that they had received a tip that Darryl Wayne Pigg, who is wanted on felony drug trafficking charges out of Georgia and has active warrants issued through Maury County, was an occupant of the vehicle.

When officers attempted to conduct the traffic stop on Duke’s Chevrolet Tahoe on Third Avenue, they report that she sped away, ignoring repeated attempts to stop her.

She led officers on a chase in the areas of Seventh Street, Springer Road and Fifth Avenue. She turned onto Ninth Street, drove to the dead end and pulled into a driveway. She then drove behind a house there, into a field, turned around and headed back out of the driveway.

Officers note that various officers had positioned their cars to intercept and that she narrowly avoided hitting one of the patrol cars. She then led officers along Delana Avenue and onto Beuerlein Circle where she accelerated to a high rate of speed.

She drove onto Gimlet Road, heading toward Giles County and, “continued at speeds of almost 80 miles per hour.” She reportedly passed a Ford Explorer in the area of Martin Road and continued on until she turned onto Morgan Road. At that point officers lost sight of her.

A short time later, officers were able to reestablish contact with Duke in the Miller Lane/Bonee Road area. She told them that she had not been driving the vehicle during the pursuit. She said that a man of Hispanic descent, not Pigg, had been driving, then got out and fled on foot along Bonee Road.

She said that she “didn’t know” the man, but that she met him at a grocery store in Lawrenceburg and “he was supposed to take her to meet Pigg to pick up two ounces of meth.” She told officers that she has obtained meth from Pigg several times in the past.

While searching Duke’s vehicle, officers report finding a number of drug-related items, including a glass pipe bearing meth residue, Suboxone strips, around fifty small plastic baggies, and two sets of digital scales. She denied ownership of all of the items except one set of digital scales.

Reports show that at the time of the incident Duke was on both county and state probation. Her vehicle was seized and she was transported to the Lawrence County Detention Center where she was incarcerated under a bond of $46,000. She has been scheduled an initial appearance in General Sessions Court on March 2, 2017.