An 18-year-old Knoxville driver told Knox County deputies he was drunk and just wanted to go home after leading them on a high-speed chase that ended in a head-on crash, throwing his passenger from the truck and injuring several people. Brock Burton now faces a stack of charges, including two counts of vehicular assault, after the pursuit that began near The Cove at Concord Park in the early morning hours of August 30.
Disturbance at a Closed Park Sparks the Chase
According to a police report cited by WVLT, Knox County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a disturbance involving multiple cars and people at The Cove at Concord Park off Northshore Drive around 1 a.m. Deputies then saw a truck leaving the parking lot at a high rate of speed with bystanders nearby, prompting them to try to pull the vehicle over. The gathering unfolded well outside normal hours for the park, which officially operates only from dawn to dusk, according to the Legacy Parks Foundation. The City of Knoxville lists The Cove at 11808 S. Northshore Drive. According to the City of Knoxville, parks are open from dawn to dusk year-round, and alcoholic beverages and drugs are not allowed.
Rather than stopping, Burton continued to speed away during the pursuit, per the police report. He turned onto Westland Drive and drove around 80 mph, crossing the double yellow line multiple times as deputies followed. The truck ultimately crashed head-on into another car after Burton lost control and hit a guardrail.
Passenger Thrown From the Truck
The crash injured several people. Burton was thrown from the truck, as was his 18-year-old passenger, Cole Hammonds, who was taken to the hospital for treatment along with the driver of the other car. Burton was also hospitalized for treatment of his injuries.
After the crash, deputies searched the truck and found a bottle of margarita and a bottle of whiskey inside. Burton told deputies he was drunk and wanted to go home, the report states. Hammonds told investigators the pair had purchased the alcohol but would not say who had bought it for them, leaving the source of the alcohol unresolved.
Charges Stack Up Against the Teen Driver
Burton was charged with two counts of vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, evading arrest, reckless driving, a due care violation, underage driving while impaired, underage consumption, and not wearing a seat belt. Hammonds was charged with underage consumption and not wearing a seat belt.
Vehicular assault under Tennessee Code § 39-13-106 is a Class D felony carrying two to twelve years in prison and a mandatory minimum of 48 consecutive hours behind bars for a first offense, applied when an intoxicated driver recklessly causes serious bodily injury to another, according to Justia Law. Meanwhile, fleeing law enforcement in a vehicle is classified as a Class E felony punishable by one to six years in prison under Tennessee Code § 39-16-603, but that exposure climbs to a Class D felony carrying up to 12 years when the flight creates a risk of death or injury to others, per the Oberman & Rice Law Firm.
Underage Impairment Charge Could Still Be Upgraded
Because Burton was 18 at the time of the crash, he was charged under Tennessee's Underage Driving While Impaired statute, Tennessee Code § 55-10-415, which applies to drivers under 21 with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.02% or higher and carries a mandatory one-year license suspension and $250 fine, according to FindLaw. Drivers under 21 may also face ordinary DUI charges under Tennessee law, according to Christmas Law Group. The report does not discuss formal toxicology results.
Reckless endangerment, meanwhile, escalates from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony punishable by one to six years in prison when committed with a deadly weapon, according to Collins Legal.
Part of a Broader Pattern on Knoxville Roads
State crash data provides context for this scenario among Tennessee's youngest drivers. The 2023 teen-driver crash report linked by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security says teens in rural areas were more than twice as likely to be speeding as those in urban zones. Young-driver fatal crash rates and crash involvement are broader road-safety concerns.
The Westland Drive crash adds to a string of recent Knoxville-area cases involving impaired or reckless driving that Hoodline has covered this year. Who supplied the alcohol to Burton and Hammonds before the crash remains an open question, as Hammonds declined to identify the source when questioned by deputies.
