A reported crash near Lower Broadway’s closed section led police to arrest Michelle Rayshawn Campbell, 29, on a fourth-offense DUI charge, according to WSMV. Police said she drove toward the closure despite officers’ directions, crashed into three vehicles on Commerce Street and continued on. An officer was slightly injured while trying to break a window of her car, the station reported.
WSMV reported that officers traced the car to Campbell’s Emory Drive residence by running its license plate. Police first found the vehicle there but received no answer, then returned later Saturday and arrested her after she answered the door. The station reported charges of fourth-offense DUI, felony reckless endangerment, aggravated assault on a police officer, felony evading arrest, vandalism and five counts of leaving the scene of a crash. It reported a $73,250 bond.
The account does not establish through an independently reviewed police report, arrest affidavit or court record what happened in the case after the arrest. The charge is an allegation, not a finding of guilt. The details reported about the driving and collision also do not, on their own, establish that crossing a barrier caused the crash.
Separate safety measures and incidents put the location in context
Lower Broadway has been the subject of separate pedestrian-safety measures. In March, WSMV reported a plan to close Broadway between Rep. John Lewis Way and 2nd Avenue on Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. The report describes a separate measure; it does not establish whether that plan was operating during Campbell’s incident or explain the specific barriers involved.
A separate Lower Broadway crash underscores that pedestrian risks in the area have also drawn attention: The Tennessean reported that an 87-year-old driver struck pedestrians at Broadway and 4th Avenue on Aug. 1, killing one person and sending three others to the hospital; police were investigating. That was a different crash, involving pedestrians rather than the vehicle collisions reported in Campbell’s case, and it is not evidence of a trend.
Statewide figures provide a wider, but not case-specific, backdrop. A Tennessee Department of Safety report lists 6,103 alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2021, 6,137 in 2022 and 6,162 in 2023. Those totals describe Tennessee as a whole; they do not show whether alcohol impairment caused this crash or establish a pattern in downtown Nashville.
