Suspect charged with DUI after hitting utility worker in West Knox

An early morning accident sent one person to the hospital and another to jail.

Just before 3:00am Monday, some workers were re-routing utility poles between Bob Gray Road and Yarnell Road in west Knox County when a car struck one of the workers.

One of the workers on the scene said he could hear the car coming. Then he heard it hitting their traffic cones, and once the car stopped, he saw his co-worker coming up from underneath the car.

The Knox County Sheriff's Office said Byron Van Brocklin, 22 and of Oak Ridge, is charged with DUI.

Deputies said Van Brocklin had slurred speech and a very strong odor of alcohol, and that he was unsteady on his feet. Officers said he performed poorly on a standard field sobriety test and told officers he was returning home from the Cotton Eye Joe night club after drinking two pitchers of beer.

The worker was taken to UT Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Another worker said that despite all the efforts they take to try to stay visible, collisions between vehicles and workers are a fairly common occurrence.