Driver involved in two hit-and-run incidents apprehended by authorities

Reports filed through the Lawrenceburg Police Department show that officers were initially dispatched to the parking lot at Walmart, 2130 North Locust Avenue, on December 18 where a fifty-six year old Summertown man reported that he had been struck by a green Saturn SUV while in the crosswalk. Officers report that the pedestrian sustained only minor injuries and was not transported to the hospital. They were able to view surveillance video showing that the man was struck at 7:27 a.m. and the driver fled from the north end of the parking lot at a high rate of speed.

While they were still at the scene, officers discovered that a vehicle of the same description had been involved in a hit-and-run crash in Ethridge at 7:47 a.m. That crash had resulted in serious injuries. Reports indicated that the driver of the green 2004 Saturn Vue had fled from the crash site on foot. Officers made their way to the site of the crash where they began collaborating with Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers assigned to investigate.

Officers spoke with the owner of the Saturn. She told them that her daughter had been in possession of the vehicle and that she did not know her whereabouts. The ensuing investigation led officers to determine that it had been the same vehicle involved in both incidents.

Shortly afterwards officers learned from 911 Dispatchers that a woman had called to report information about the Ethridge crash. She told them that she had been traveling through that area and was flagged down by a man who was running from the wreck. He asked her to give him a ride to his residence on Avon Street in Lawrenceburg, and she did so. The woman was able to provide information that led officers to the 314 Avon Street home of forty-seven year old William Scott Hughes.

When officers spoke with Hughes, they report that he denied having been involved in either hit-and-run incident, declaring that he had not even been in the vehicle involved. Officers noted that Hughes appeared to be under the influence of some sort of intoxicant. They said that he exhibited jerky motions, that his speech was slurred, and that he was unable to make eye contact.

A trooper involved in the investigation soon notified officers that he had made contact with the vehicle owner’s daughter. He said that she admitted that she had been inside of the vehicle during the incidents, but that she had not been driving.

On Thursday, LPD detectives were able to arrest Hughes on charges stemming from both incidents. Hughes was booked through the Lawrence County Detention Center on charges that include leaving the scene of a crash, failure to provide immediate notification of an accident, three counts of aggravated assault, and three counts of attempted first degree murder.

Hughes is scheduled to answer the charges in General Sessions Court on January 5, 2017.