Georgia man damages bridge drunk driving, goes to Taco Bell, police say

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read
4

A bridge in Rome, not built in a day, was damaged by a drunk driver near the end of June, according to police.

On June 27, Russell Norris was allegedly driving drunk when he struck another vehicle on the bridge on Turner McCall Boulevard near Hicks Drive around 4:30 p.m.

When police arrived on the scene, they found an overturned Chevy Tahoe and debris in the roadway.

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The police report said multiple witnesses at the scene of the crash saw a vehicle traveling north on Turner McCall at a high rate of speed, while weaving in and out of traffic.

While it was speeding, the police report said the vehicle struck another and lost control, causing it to swerve to the right onto the bridge.

The crash “caused a large hole in the right side of the bridge and then swerved back into the traffic lanes,” before flipping over in the middle of the road.

Witnesses told Rome police that the driver left the vehicle and walked away on foot, going south on Turner McCall Boulevard.

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Two witnesses who spoke to police had their own vehicles damaged in the incident, according to the police report.

Officers took pictures of the damage to the bridge and road. While surveying the scene, they said they found a phone with its GPS pulled up, showing directions to the Atrium at Floyd on Turner McCall Boulevard.

About an hour after the accident, police said they were given a tip that the suspect driver was walking near a Taco Bell on the same street.

When police found him, he was identified as Norris, the owner of the flipped vehicle in the road.

Norris told police he had been in an accident on the bridge, and that he had “drank half of a bottle of Tito’s vodka.”

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Police took him to the ER, where they asked him about the accident.

Norris admitted to driving the vehicle on Turner McCall, saying he had been “going to meet a girl” at the Atrium. He confirmed to police that the phone they found was his.

Officers said that while interviewing Norris, they “smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person” and he admitted to drinking and driving.

Norris then agreed to take a blood test, which is now with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for a blood alcohol analysis, according to police.

Police told Channel 2 Action News that there’s a temporary fix in place for the bridge damage right now, but while secure, there is not a timeframe for a permanent repair yet.

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