Body camera video shows crash between deputy and MTSU student
Despite a THP investigation that stated the deputy improperly changed lanes, the county won’t pay for damages.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WSMV) - There is nothing remarkable, at first, about the body camera of Deputy Trey Caison, driving on a dark Franklin Road on Oct. 12, 2024.
But just how many lanes he would have to cross to get over to a side street would become pivotal just a few moments later.
The crash revealed in the video, obtained by WSMV4 Investigates, is at the center of a dispute between an MTSU student and the county government.
Despite a state trooper’s report on the crash that stated Caison improperly changed lanes before MTSU student Katie Smith smashed into him, the county’s insurance is denying negligence on his part and refuses to pay for damages to Smith’s car.
WSMV4 Investigates has now obtained video of the crash, including the moments before and afterward.
The video shows Caison moving into the continuous turn lane in the middle of the road as he sees another deputy pulled over, with her siren ignited, on a side street to his right, talking to three juveniles.
In order to get to his fellow deputy, Caison would have to cross three lanes as traffic moved by.
Turning on his blue lights, he began to move through the closest lane and then the next, starting to tap the siren. Two seconds later, driving into the third lane, Smith’s car crashes into him.
“Oh my gosh, it was so scary,” Smith told WSMV4 Investigates.
Smith, along with her boyfriend Mason Nolan who was riding in the passenger seat, said they did not hear the siren and were not prepared for the deputy to cross three lanes in front of them.
“It wasn’t like, like, whoa whoa whoa! It was like, it was like boom,” Nolan said.
The video shows when Caison gets out of his cruiser, he is not pleased.
“Did you not see my blue lights?” Caison asks.
“Yeah we saw them,” Nolan says.
“And my sirens? That I was merging over?” Caison asks.
“You were stopped right there in the middle,” Nolan says.
“I was merging over,” Caison says.
“So we just slowed down,” Nolan says.
“You didn’t slow down fast enough,” Caison says, then curses.
Shortly afterward, Caison expresses his frustration with another deputy, referring to his conversation with Nolan.
“I already jumped down their ass. F****** pissed,” Caison tells the other deputy. “I had my lights on and saw (the female deputy) over there talking to three juveniles, so I started to hit my siren button and everyone stopped. And then, I looked over, and she, like, was slowing down and as I’m coming, she speeds up and hits me.”
None of that is disputed when a trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol arrives to investigate.
In describing the accident, the trooper wrote that Caison improperly changed lanes.
Smith was given no ticket and neither was Caison. When Smith filed a claim with the county’s insurance, citing the trooper’s finding, she was stunned to learn they denied Caison was negligent and refused to cover any damages.
WSMV4 Investigates contacted the Rutherford County sheriff’s office, the county attorney, the county’s insurance and risk management office and the county mayor, but none responded to our questions by our deadline.
Smith said she is in the process of deciding whether or not to sue.
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