By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Sawyers Mill, Tenn.—The Tennessee Highway Patrol has released more information on the accident which killed an Atwood man Tuesday morning on Hwy. 70 in Benton County.
Pronounced dead at the scene was Shane Hamm, age 40. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the report. His passenger, Alba Laureano, age 47, of Bruceton, was injured and airlifted to Vanderbilt Medical Center. She was wearing a seatbelt.
Hamm was driving a pickup truck westbound on U.S. 70 and slowed to make a left turn when a dump truck driven by Stephen Pruitt, age 58, of Bruceton, swerved left to avoid a collision with Hamm and struck his pickup in the left side driver’s door. Pruitt was hauling gravel in his dump truck.
Pruitt, who was wearing a seat belt, was also injured. He was airlifted to a Memphis hospital with a broken leg and internal injuries.
The accident occurred near Sawyers Mill, near the Benton/Carroll Co. line. The accident was investigated by Trooper Garrett Flannery.