A quiet Thursday afternoon near an elementary school in Bartlett, Tennessee, came to an abrupt and frightening halt when a driver allegedly under the influence of alcohol or drugs plowed into a school crossing guard and a young boy riding his bicycle. It happened just after 3 p.m. near the intersection of Kirby Whitten Parkway and Dawnhill Road, a stretch of road that sits less than half a mile from Ellendale Elementary School, where families were wrapping up the school day.
Both victims, the crossing guard and the child, were loaded into ambulances and transported to the hospital. The good news: they were both treated and eventually released. But in the moments right after the crash, nobody knew that would be the case, and the fear among bystanders was very real.
Witnesses at the scene quickly pulled out their phones and started recording. One of those witnesses, a Bartlett resident named Lori Stilwell, captured video of the driver being put through a field sobriety test right there in the middle of the road. In the footage, officers can be seen carefully watching as the driver attempts a heel-to-toe walk, one of the standard roadside tests law enforcement uses to assess impairment. The driver’s face was blurred before the video was shared publicly…