JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — A Washington County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) deputy resigned following a hit-and-run car crash near University Parkway and Milligan Highway on Saturday night.

Officers with the Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) responded to the area at 5:44 p.m., according to an incident report from the agency. The caller followed the suspect to North Roan Street, where police began to pursue the vehicle.

The report alleges that the suspect, later identified as Marion Phillips, a then-deputy with the WCSO, “[ignored] officers’ lights and sirens” and eventually pulled over in the Smokey Bones parking lot.

Phillips, who officers noted was wearing two pairs of sunglasses and “was hesitant to take them off,” allegedly told police that she “was unaware of the wreck and that she was not responsible for it.”

Police requested that Phillips exit her vehicle and then noticed a “strong odor of alcohol emitting from the vehicle and her person,” the JCPD report states. Officers arrested Phillips after she reportedly refused a sobriety test, charging her with the following:

  • Leaving the scene of an accident (damage to vehicles)
  • Driving under the influence
  • Weapon law violations
  • Failure to comply with financial responsibility

Phillips reportedly told police upon her arrest that she had a handgun in her vehicle, which police confiscated.

Officers transported Phillips to the Washington County Detention Center.

A WCSO spokesperson on Monday confirmed that Phillips had been a deputy at the agency and has since resigned.