22-year-old Datin Pendergrass was involved in a single-vehicle car accident on Southside Road on August 20th. Upon arrival, officers observed tire tracks veering off to the right side of the road. Additionally, two mailboxes were hit, and a cable wire was damaged in the incident. A witness of the incident informed officers that they saw the vehicle that crashed, described it as a white-lifted truck, and provided them with the license plate number. The truck came back to a Southside Road residence, where officers observed the vehicle with extensive front-end damage.
Officers then came into contact with Pendergrass, who they reported smelled like alcohol. After approaching Pendergrass’ truck, officers found an opened bottle of Bird Dog whiskey in the passenger seat. When asked about the amount of alcohol he consumed, Pendergrass confessed that he had “a few swigs,” prompting officers to ask him to perform sobriety tests. During the sobriety tests, Pendergrass showed several signs of impairment, so he was taken into custody. While in custody, Pendergrass was read implied consent, but he refused to consent to a blood draw. After officers obtained a warrant for his blood, he was transported to Tennova Main Hospital and then transported to booking. Pendergrass was charged with driving under the influence, open container violation, leaving the scene of an accident, immediate notice of an accident, and failing to exercise due care on August 21st.