S

A man told police he was on Snapchat when he ran off the road and through someone’s yard, hitting a tree this past week. However, police suspect that the half bottle of Skyy Vodka he allegedly drank earlier may have had something to do with the hit-and-run that has landed him in hot water.

The suspect, Hughes Carter, 24, is charged with DUI, possession of drug paraphernalia and leaving the scene of an accident for the incident that happened on the evening of April 11 on Marbury Road in Tullahoma.

A resident there told police she was sitting on her porch swing when a light-colored SUV ran off the road and slammed into her mailbox, striking a wood bridge before hitting a tree head-on. She told police she yelled for the driver to stop but he backed out and sped away. But, in his haste to leave he left his bumper which bore a Lexus emblem.

The heavily damaged Lexus was not able to get far as police found the car disabled and smoking on East Carroll Street. When asked what had happened, Carter maintained he had just looked down for a moment.

“He said he had been on Snapchat while he was driving and had looked down when he ran off the road and hit a tree,” police said of Carter’s statement regarding the wreck. “He stated he panicked and took off.”

Police became suspicious when he claimed he had nothing to drink even though they could see open containers in the cup holder. He was then asked to take a sobriety test on which police say he did poorly.

“I asked him to be honest with me about how much he had to drink and he stated that approximately two hours ago, he drank about a half bottle of Skyy vodka,” police reported.

His unsatisfactory performance on the field sobriety test and his .11 blood alcohol content led to this arrest on drunk driving charges.

“He admitted he was glad that officers caught him drinking and driving because he stated he drinks and drives often,” the police report noted.