La Follette Police successfully locate car that was reported driving all over the road

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- While on patrol, LaFollette Police Officer Joseph Hicks was notified by dispatch to be on the lookout, a BOLO, for a blue Toyota Corolla with a lot of bumper stickers on the back of the car and given a license plate number. This Wednesday night BOLO was around eight o’clock on October 9, and it didn’t take long for Officer Hicks to locate the car.

Hicks spotted the vehicle of interest traveling eastbound on Jacksboro Pike, heading toward Central Avenue, and was reportedly all over the roadway. Patrolman Hicks followed the Toyota that had turned northbound onto Nevada Avenue. The vehicle had come to a complete stop in the middle of the roadway, and Hicks could see the driver look back at him through the driver-side mirror several times. The driver then slowly rolled down the road at 5 MPH in a 30 MPH zone. The driver could not keep the vehicle under proper control due to continuously looking back at the police cruiser behind her, so Office Hicks conducted a traffic stop. Upon making contact with the driver identified as Katie Lee Freeman he asked if she had a driver’s license. She told him she did not have a driver’s license, just an ID. She handed him her state-issued ID. Freeman explained that she was trying to get to her mom’s boyfriend’s brother’s house, according to a report from the LaFollette Police Department.  

While speaking with Freeman, the officer noticed that she had watery eyes, slurred speech, and an odor of alcoholic beverages coming from her. He also noticed that she had a small child in the car’s back seat, who Freeman later identified as her daughter. Officer Hicks asked her if she had consumed any alcohol, and she stated that she had one shot of vodka earlier in the evening.

Officer Zach Daugherty arrived at the scene, and Officer Hicks asked Freeman if she would be willing to perform some field sobriety tests to ensure she was okay to drive, and she consented to do the standardized field sobriety test. Freeman allegedly performed poorly on the test and was taken to the LaFollette Police Department where she was read the implied consent form and Miranda rights, according to the police report. She consented and signed to give a breath sample, after which she blew a final test of .264 g/210l, according to the report.  Freeman was transported to the Campbell County Jail.

Freeman, 28, 3807 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville was charged with drivers to exercise due care, DUI, child endangerment, driving without a driver’s license. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-10/18/2024-6AM)

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