CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Cheatham County authorities made an unusual arrest Wednesday evening after one driver’s sneezing attack apparently led to a crash and a scuffle between another motorist and first responders.
The incident happened on Wednesday, Dec. 18 by the intersection of Highway 49 and River Road. According to the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office, a 39-year-old driver in a work truck had a sneezing attack while he was making a left turn, which caused him to collide with a Mercedes in the oncoming lane of traffic.
The truck driver suffered a minor injury to his hand, but there were no serious injuries. However, as deputies investigated the head-on crash, they determined that neither the truck driver nor the two passengers in the Mercedes were wearing their seatbelts.
“I’m going to cite you for not wearing a seatbelt, alright?” a deputy said to the work truck driver, who admitted he wasn’t wearing one.
Then, the deputy questioned 30-year-old Zachary Scruggs and a 26-year-old woman in the Mercedes about their seatbelt usage. Their interaction was captured on body camera footage:
Deputy: “I’m going to ask, why weren’t you wearing your seatbelt?”
Woman: “I normally have mine on all the time.”
Scruggs: “Me, I drive all the time, so I don’t think about it when I hop in.”
Deputy: “Well when the insurance finds out, it will disqualify you. Other words, they probably won’t pay out on the claim because you weren’t wearing any safety gear.”
Scruggs: “I was this time.”
Deputy: “No you weren’t.”
Scruggs: “How do you know?”
Deputy: “Because the seatbelt would be locked out. It’s not.”
Scruggs: “It could lock in.”
Deputy: “No it won’t. It’s a safety feature, my man.”
Deputy: “So, that seatbelt right there would have been locked out with that impact. You weren’t wearing it; your passenger wasn’t wearing it. I don’t understand. It’s a law.”
After the deputy inspected the inside and outside of the Mercedes’ windshield, he also questioned Scruggs’ claim that he was driving the vehicle.
The deputy told the 30-year-old his investigative assertion was based on evidence inside the Mercedes — namely, a long hair he found embedded in the windshield directly above the steering wheel. The deputy indicated that Scruggs’ female passenger, who had very long hair, may have been driving, adding that there was no other way the hair could be stuck in the broken glass and hanging straight down.
The deputy informed Scruggs and the woman he had questions about who was behind the wheel.
Deputy: “Who was driving?”
Scruggs: “Me.”
Deputy: “Wrong. Her hair is still stuck in the front-“
Scruggs: “No s***! I was driving.”
Woman: “He was driving.”
Scruggs: “Don’t come over here and start accusing me of s***!”
The woman and another man interjected, asking Scruggs to chill out.
Deputy: “You need to chill out.”
Scruggs: “No, you need to chill out! That is the second time you-“
Deputy: “Alright, turn your, put your hands behind your back, now.”
This led to a scuffle that involved other first responders.
A man at the scene who was related to the woman questioned the deputy’s assertion that Scruggs was not the driver.
“What does it matter who was driving? He was driving, but what does it matter who was driving?” the man asked.
“Because nobody was wearing a seatbelt and there’s charges!” the deputy argued.
Even when he was on the ground in handcuffs, Scruggs still argued he was the driver and others corroborated that.
“He’s saying I was driving!” Scruggs exclaimed
“I don’t care what he’s saying!” the deputy replied. “The evidence in the car doesn’t support it!”
According to the arresting deputy, Scruggs had an issue with his boot on the way to the Cheatham County Jail.
“What’d you just throw?” the deputy asked.
“I didn’t throw anything. I can’t get my boot on,” Scruggs responded.
After delivering Scruggs to the jail, the deputy stopped outside the door and looked in the darkness near the fence for any contraband. He didn’t find any. However, according to officials, Cheatham County jailers later found what was believed to be marijuana in Scruggs’ boot.
In addition, the report from the sheriff’s office indicates the long hair found embedded in the windshield above the steering wheel will be sent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) crime lab for testing.
Scruggs — who has no prior arrest history in Cheatham County or Davidson County — is currently charged with misdemeanor assault on an officer, misdemeanor resisting arrest, and felony introduction of contraband into a penal institution. Scruggs and the work truck driver involved in Wednesday evening’s wreck were also cited for not wearing their seatbelts.
News 2 called the work truck driver, who said he did not see who was driving the Mercedes at the time of impact. However, after the crash, the work truck driver remembered seeing a man getting out of the driver’s side of the car.
According to jail officials, Scruggs was released on a $27,500 bond. News 2 called the number listed for Scruggs on his jail intake information, but that number was not in service.
