November 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
Two people were airlifted after separate crashes Thursday night and early Friday morning in DeKalb County.
The first wreck occurred at 8:41 p.m. Thursday night on Highway 96 (Dale Ridge Road). Trooper Chris Meness of the Tennessee Highway Patrol said 18 year old Russell Elliott of Brush Creek was driving north in a 2002 Ford Ranger. A 17 year old boy was with him. Elliot went off the left side of the road while trying to negotiate a curve too fast. The truck went off a steep embankment and hit three trees before coming to a stop. The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department performed extrication to remove Elliot from the truck. He was airlifted from near the scene to Vanderbilt Hospital. The boy was taken by DeKalb EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital.
The second crash occurred Friday morning at 2:27 a.m.. Trooper Meness said 21 year old Samantha Hutson of Cookeville was traveling east on Sparta Highway near Sligo in a 2010 Honda Accord when she lost control while attempting to negotiate a curve. The car went off the right shoulder and crashed into a rock embankment. Hutson, who was not wearing a seatbelt, suffered a severe head wound and neck injury and was airlifted from near the scene to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. She has since been released from the hospital.