A black SUV crashed through a fence next to a funeral home in Memphis’s Binghampton neighborhood on Sunday, and neighbors say they watched a man climb out of the wrecked vehicle and disappear before police could catch up to him. The crash set off a search by Memphis police that played out in real time as a news crew worked the scene.
According to WREG, neighbors reported seeing a man leave the black SUV right after it crashed next to the funeral home. A crew from the station later watched the vehicle get towed away from a nearby wooded area, and reported that the SUV appeared to have crashed through a fence before coming to rest.
The funeral home near the crash is N.H. Owens & Son, at 421 Scott Street. The business opened at that location in 1912 and has remained family-owned; city economic-development records identify founder’s granddaughter Cheryl Owens as its owner. The same record describes the site as a long-standing neighborhood business, with the building dating to 1937.
Police Responded to an Armed-Party Call Nearby
Memphis police were responding to an armed-party call at Scott Street and Nathan Avenue, and officers searched the area for the person connected to the crash, as noted by WREG. It remains unclear whether that search led officers to the man neighbors say was seen leaving the SUV, or whether the two incidents are directly linked beyond their proximity in time and location.
Police have not released details about what happened, per the same account, leaving basic questions about the crash unanswered for now. The driver’s identity, whether anyone was hurt, and what caused the SUV to leave the road and crash through the fence are all still unknown.
The crash occurred in a neighborhood where redevelopment efforts have focused on housing, blight and safety. Binghampton projects have included support for more than 200 affordable homes in Tillman Cove, cleanup of more than a dozen blighted properties and rehabilitation of 35 homes. The Community Redevelopment Agency’s stated priorities also include a safer, better-connected neighborhood—context for a crash that has left local residents seeking answers, but not evidence of any connection between this incident and broader neighborhood conditions.
What's Next
With no further information released by police, residents in the Binghampton area are left with the same open questions WREG’s crew encountered at the scene: who was behind the wheel, and what sent the vehicle crashing through a fence beside a place normally associated with quiet mourning rather than a chaotic police search.
