A car went airborne early Saturday morning in Smyrna, Tennessee, and ended up suspended in power pole support cables in a woman's front yard at the corner of Peebles Drive and One Mile Lane — and remarkably, no one was hurt. Lisa Hewitt said she heard the crash around 6:30 a.m. and stepped outside to find the vehicle standing nearly straight up, tangled in the support cables above her front yard.
“So, I opened up and come out and that car is standing straight up and I'm like, what has happened? It was unreal,” Hewitt said, according to News Channel 5 Nashville. She went outside to check whether anyone was hurt and instead watched a man jump off the car and start walking around the yard. “I see someone jump off the top of the car and he's walking around and I said, are you okay?” she recalled.
Hewitt said the man appeared unharmed but confused. When she asked whether he had been drinking, he walked away and disappeared near a tree, she told the station. Police caught and arrested him a short distance away; he was expected to face charges in connection with the crash. The cause was not known at the time of reporting, though the station noted that speed may have contributed.
What Happened at the Utility Pole
Hewitt said she saw no tire marks suggesting the driver had braked before the crash. The car remained suspended until first responders arrived and brought it down.
A guy wire is an angled steel cable anchored to the ground that helps keep a utility pole stable, as explained by Electrocuted.com.
A collision involving utility equipment can create serious electrical hazards. Cullman Electric Cooperative notes that guy wires are not normally energized, but a damaged or displaced wire can contact overhead high-voltage lines and energize the cable and surrounding ground. The Electrical Safety Foundation International advises drivers in utility-pole crashes to remain inside their vehicles unless fire breaks out; stepping onto potentially electrified ground while in contact with a vehicle can complete a circuit and cause fatal electrocution.
Crash Added to a Mailbox, and a Rising County Tally
Hewitt said she was thankful the crash happened on a Saturday, since her daughter runs a preschool on the property on weekdays. The crash also damaged Hewitt's mailbox — something she noted the suspect still owes her for.
The Smyrna crash comes amid an increase in Rutherford County crashes in the latest comparable period reported. Year-to-date data through May showed 16 crashes in the county, up from 14 during the same stretch in both 2025 and 2024, according to WGNS Radio.
Fatal-Crash Trends and a Similar Incident
In statewide context, WGNS Radio reported 351 Tennessee traffic fatalities in the first 146 days of 2026, compared with 408 in the same period of 2025 and 428 by that point in 2024.
A separate report with no year specified described a similar outcome in Chattanooga: Local 3 News reported that a two-vehicle crash on the afternoon of December 23 at Wilcox Boulevard and Holtzclaw Avenue left a car suspended from a guy wire. One person was trapped and suffered minor injuries, the outlet reported: Local 3 News.
What the Driver Could Face
Under Tennessee Code § 55-10-102, a driver involved in an accident resulting in property damage is required to immediately stop and remain at the scene; fleeing is charged as a Class B misdemeanor if damages are under $1,500, or a Class A misdemeanor if damages exceed that amount, according to the Williams Firm. If investigators determine the driver was impaired, he could also face an impaired-driving charge.
The crash site is in Smyrna. For now, the official cause of the crash remains unconfirmed, and the suspect's exact charges have not yet been filed.
