Swerving truck driver avoiding traffic stop crashes and snarls Interstate 26 traffic

Preliminary reports say a tractor-trailer driver refused to pull over for a traffic stop and later crashed on Interstate 26 Monday afternoon.

A Johnson City officer reportedly gave chase in the city limits and the pursuit continued into Kingsport as the driver swerved the 18-wheeler in parts of the highway until he ran into the median a mile from the Exit 6 / Rock Springs area just before 2:30.

A Kingsport fire official said the driver suffered minor injuries. The wreck tied up the Interstate well into the rush hour and both sides had to be reduced to one lane to clean up and turn the rig back over to tow it away.

The crash remains under investigation.

(IMAGE: Courtesy of Kingsport Fire Department / Facebook / Public image)