TENNESSEE DEPUTY FILES $1.6 MILLION LAWSUIT AGAINST DRIVER WHO ALLEGEDLY STRUCK HIM

Hawkins County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chris Price has filed a $1.6 million lawsuit against the motorist who allegedly struck him in January while he was investigating an accident earlier this year.

On the evening of Jan. 1, Price, 36, of Church Hill, was dispatched to a narrow, winding section of Sensabaugh Hollow Road in an unincorporated area of Hawkins County north of Kingsport to investigate a single-vehicle accident without injuries involving a pickup.

According to a Tennessee Highway Patrol report, Price and the motorist involved in the initial accident were in the roadway looking at the pickup when a 2006 Toyota Scion driven by Bartholomew Barnabas Bishop, 22, 1351 W. Carters Valley Road, Apt. 3, Kingsport, struck Price, the other driver, and then crashed into the disabled pickup.

Bishop is named as the main defendant in the lawsuit. Co-plaintiffs include two other individuals who may have owned the car Bishop was driving when the accident occurred.

In his report, THP Trooper Billy Collier attributed excessive speed to the second accident, which severely injured Price.

Bishop was cited for reckless driving, violation of the seat belt law, failure to show proof of insurance, and registration violation.

The lawsuit, which was drafted by Morristown attorney F. Braxton Terry and Rogersville attorney Doug Jenkins, states Price has "sustained serious disabling injuries" which have resulted in "permanent disabilities and have impaired his capacity for work, labor, business and the enjoyments and pleasures of life."

In addition to the $1.6 million sought by Price, Price's wife Tonya Price seeks $35,000 in the lawsuit for loss of consortium caused by her husband's injuries.

Price remains on leave from the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office. Among his injuries were two broken legs.

Sheriff Roger Christian said Monday the last time he saw Price he was still in a wheelchair and "a long way from recovery."

No court dates have been set as of yet for the lawsuit, which was filed in Hawkins County Circuit Court on June 14.