Police make gruesome discovery in man's car after dramatic high-speed chase
A routine traffic-stop quickly escalated into a police chase and then a car crash, followed by a gruesome discovery.
Police in Knoxville, in the US state of Tennesse, say they found a severed torso in a car which they believe had belonged to a pedestrian killed by the driver of the vehicle.
Local news station WATE 6 reported 29-year-old Dorrae Johnson was charged with vehicular homicide in the early hours of Sunday morning (local time) as well as evading police.
Police had reportedly pulled Mr Johnson over at around 3.30am for failing to remain his lane.
When an officer approached his vehicle, Mr Johnson had yelled from his window that he needed to get home to his family and sped off, according to arrest paperwork.
Police had given chase before Mr Johnson’s vehicle hit a curb on the wrong side of the road, causing it to blow out a tyre.
The car continued down the road before hitting an electricity pole.
The police reportedly then stated that the driver had exited the vehicle and tried to escape on foot before being caught and arrested.
The arresting officer alleged Mr Johnson smelled strongly of alcohol and had bloodshot, watery eyes. The policeman said the alleged suspect told him he was “blitzed”.
Upon returning to the crashed vehicle to turn off its ignition, the officer discovered the severed torso on the passenger floorboard. The lower-half of the body was missing.
The rest of the victim’s body was later found by the officer at the impact scene, along with the man’s wallet.
Officers believe the victim, who was identified as Darryl Eugene Butler, had been a pedestrian who was hit and killed by Mr Johnson.
In addition to vehicular homicide Mr Johnson was also charged with evading arrest and driving while license revoked.
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