DRIVER WHO HIT TENNESSEE TROOPER CHARGED

The tractor trailer driver suspected of hitting a Tennessee Highway Patrol car last month and not stopping has been arrested. Terrence T. Hughes turned himself into THP investigators last night without incident and was booked into the McMinn County jail early this morning. He was indicted last week on a felony reckless endangerment charge and for violating the Move Over law.

Hughes is accused of being behind the wheel of a tractor trailer that side-swiped Trooper Charles Melhorn's patrol car. The incident happened around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 12, 2008. Trooper Melhorn had just completed a traffic stop on I-75 northbound near mile marker 42 when his vehicle was hit. Hughes did not stop. Trooper Melhorn was in his vehicle at the time of the crash and was not injured.

Members of THP's Criminal Investigations Division (CID) used dash-cam video from the patrol car to determine that the tractor trailer belonged to Smithway Motor Express, Inc., a company that was recently acquired by Western Express. The company fully cooperated with investigators and helped locate Hughes and the semi in Ohio. Hughes has a valid Tennessee commercial driver license and told officers that he has been driving tractor trailers for five years. His bond is set at $50,000.