Driver Who Hit Church Had Suspended License

NewsChannel 9 has learned a woman driving an SUV that crashed into a church should not have been behind the wheel. You first saw the dramatic video on NewsChannel 9 Wednesday night.

Police say the driver told the her brakes failed on Tyner Road. She crossed Hickory Valley Road and smashed into the buttress of the Tyner Church of God. And this afternoon we found out she was driving on a suspended license.

Paramedics rushed to the Tyner Church of God for a dramatic crash just minutes before Wednesday evening services. Pastor C.C. Thomas recounts the second it happened, "My wife and I we were talking inside. And we just heard a loud noise."

The Ford Expedition ran into a front brick buttress and knocked out the approximate one foot thick support. Emergency crews scrambled to treat the injured. Most of them are children. Accident investigators say seven were inside this Expedition. Congregation members believed they were students at Bess. T. Shepherd Elementary. Pastor Thomas vividly remembers what happened when he stepped outside, "When we come out we just heard that children were crying, so many kids. They were crying and crying. Then we called 9-1-1," Thomas said.

In addition to the injuries, the collision took out all of this buttress and left a crack in the front wall of the church. We tried to find out if the driver had insurance and found out on initial investigation the driver should not have been driving. Chattanooga police spokesperson Lieutenant Kim Noorbergen said, "The traffic officer stated she was cited for running a stop sign and also cited for driving on a suspended license." We then asked if the driver had insurance. "I don't know that yet, it would be on the report," Noorbergen said.

Keep in mind this crash happened just minutes before Wednesday evening services with the Expedition darting right across the front sidewalk. The pastor considers the timing and no further injuries a blessing. "I just came, this is the first time I have every seen such an accident like this really. Scared by seeing all of that but God gave me the courage to see and call the police officers," Thomas said.

Police say most of the injuries were minor. Meanwhile, police say investigators will check the reliability of the Expedition's brakes.