Couple Flees Crash; Girlfriend Left In Woods

Criminal warrants are being taken against a Trion couple who fled from an automobile accident during the early morning hours Wednesday.

Summerville Police Officer Lebron Jackson was patrolling near the intersection of West Washington Street and Lee Street when he spotted a gray 1997 Jeep that had crashed into a ditch. The officer stopped to help the male and female inside.

“As I approached the Jeep, I observed a male and female fleeing into the woods off the roadway. [I] gave several verbal commands for them to stop but they continued to flee from me,” Officer Jackson stated.

The officer called for additional police units to help in the foot chase around 3:45 a.m. After going into the woods about a couple hundred of yards, the foot pursuit was canceled.

Cops checked the vehicle and it came back registered to a woman living in Summerville. It turns out that the woman had let 17-year-old Cody Dewayne Edwards and 17-year-old Chelsea Lea, both of Rose Circle, borrow the Jeep.

A few hours later Lea showed up at the police department and confessed to running.

“Ms. Lea had arrived at the police department and stated to him that she had run from the Jeep with Mr. Edwards earlier. . . and stated . . .that at some point, she passed out in the woods and was left by Mr. Edwards. Ms. Lea received several scratches to her legs during her run in the woods,” Officer Jackson reported.

Warrants for obstruction of an officer are being taken out against both Lea and Edwards. In addition to the warrants, Officer Jackson cited Edwards for driving without a tag, failure to maintain a single lane, driving without a license and leaving the scene of an accident.