News

Driver OK after flipping Blazer on U.S. 64 East

A Highway Patrol trooper walks by the flipped Chevrolet Blazer.

By Bill Moss, Published: June 6, 2014

An 18-year-old Fletcher man was able to climb out of his flipped SUV shook up but otherwise unhurt on Wednesday.

Thomas Sams was driving his 1997 Chevrolet Blazer west on U.S. 64 toward the Howard Gap Road intersection when he lost control, crossed a median, flipped and slid through a parking lot on its top until it hit a parked car, said Hendersonville Police Sgt. Kenny Hipps.
The car Sams hit belonged to 22-year-old Brandy Gates, who was inside the Park Ridge women's health clinic getting blood drawn for prenatal care when she saw the crash.
"He tried to fit in a tight spot and it didn't come out like he wanted it to and this is the result," she said as she looked at the overturned Blazer, which crunched the rear bumper of her car.

Dean Taylor said he ran over to help the driver, who climbed out of the driver's side window and laid on the grass.
Hipps estimated a total of $10,000 damage to the two vehicles and a yield sign the Blazer flattened before it flipped. The driver had insurance, Hipps said. Sams, who faces a charge of reckless driving, was treated for minor injuries at Park Ridge hospital.