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Woman Reports Stolen Vehicle Before It Crashed During Chase

Posted at 10:21 PM, Jun 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-18 23:21:00-04

A woman said she called police about the stolen truck later involved a chase and head-on collision that left a driver in critical condition. 

Regan Hinson was with her family outside the Target in Mt. Juliet on Saturday when she spotted what appeared to be a theft suspect trying to get away.

"We noticed some employees all coming out the front door looking. We saw a lady booking it through the parking lot with a whole cart full of stuff," Hinson told NewsChannel 5. "We pass a blue Chevy truck that was parked in the middle with a man in the driver seat. The woman was throwing everything frantically in the back."

The pickup truck took off, but Hinson and her husband did not stop there. They followed the pickup to help police.

"We took pictures of it and immediately called in the plates," Hinson recalled. "We didn't know for sure what was going on, but it looked pretty obvious that she was doing something that she was not supposed to be doing."

The truck turned out to be stolen from Robertson County earlier that day.

A police officer spotted the truck and began the chase on Mt. Juliet Road near Providence Parkway. The chase reached excessive speeds down Hobson Pike. 

Read More: Stolen Vehicle Chase Ends With Crash, Driver Flees

The driver of the pickup was driving erratically and crossed into oncoming traffic, hitting a car head-on near Smith Springs Parkway, according to officials with the Mt. Juliet Police Department. 

The man ran away and had not been caught nor identified as of Sunday night. 

The driver of the second vehicle was critically injured and transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The woman in the passenger seat of the stolen truck was left behind and was also taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

"I can't imagine if he was flooring it through the shopping center like that how he was driving down that road," Hinson added.

As of Sunday, Mt. Juliet police were not able to release any identities.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol has been investigating the crash.