An exceptionally stressful situation developed Monday night involving the Caneyville Fire Department chief, Grayson County deputies and a driver on the Western Kentucky Parkway following a two-vehicle accident.
Monday night at approximately 6:45, the Caneyville Fire Department was first on the scene after a westbound Toyota Camry slammed into the back of a fifth-wheel travel trailer being towed by a truck near the 92-mile marker of the parkway.
The high-velocity impact resulted in the Camry not coming to a stop until it traveled about 75 yards after the collision, while the truck and fifth-wheel traveled another 75 yards. Both vehicles remained in the roadway.
Upon Caneyville fire personnel arriving on the scene, the driver of the Camry was not in the vehicle or anywhere around the car. Caneyville Fire Chief Brian Pharris, while searching a wooded area adjacent to the parkway, located the 31-year-old male driver from Clarksville, Tennessee, about 40 yards in the woods with a gun in his mouth.
Pharris, who also serves as a process server for the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, put his life in danger as he spoke in close proximity to the distraught man in an effort to calm the individual and diffuse the situation. After several minutes, the man, who was quite emotional, Pharris said, removed the firearm from his mouth and the clip from the gun.
The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, including Chief Deputy Jarrod Mudd, Sgt. Clay Boone and Deputy Sean Fentress, who were much farther from the scene than firefighters when the call went out, investigated the cause of the driver’s behavior.
The driver was then arrested and charged with DUI, among other counts. He was transported to Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center for evaluation and then lodged in the Grayson County Detention Center.
The couple occupying the truck pulling the fifth-wheel, traveling from a family visit in Toledo, Ohio, to their home in Carlisle County, was shaken but unhurt in the crash.
According to fire officials, the driver of the Camry was recently discharged from the Army after serving several tours of combat duty; whether his experiences serving in the armed forces contributed to the events of Monday night remain unclear.
The westbound parkway was completely closed for about an hour while officials worked the scene and investigated the incident. It was then opened to one lane of traffic until approximately 8:45 when the thoroughfare was open to normal traffic flow.
Grayson County EMS also responded to the scene.
(Headline photo: Caneyville Fire Chief Brian Pharris, courtesy of Facebook)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
