Drunken Driver Carried Pedestrian 500 Yards: Police

NASHVILLE, TN -- A drunken driver carried a pedestrian on his car nearly a third of a mile early Tuesday morning and had no idea until an officer told him, according to Metro Police.

Metro Police found a 35-year-old man lying in the road near First Avenue South who had been hit and carried on a car more than 500 yards before he fell to the pavement. The man was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he remains in "extremely critical condition."

A Metro officer pulled over the suspect vehicle, which did not have its headlights on, on Murfreesboro Pike near Kermit Drive. The driver, 26-year-old Tekleab Bekuretsion, showed signs of intoxication and didn't know he was in a crash, the officer said. Investigators said there was fresh blood on the car, which also had damage.

Bekuretsion is charged with DUI, violation of the implied consent law, failure to give aid, leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury and failure to file.

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Photo via Metro Nashville Police