Hit-and-run Horror: Knoxville Man Charged After Crash Leaves Woman Gravely Injured

The Knoxville Police Department announced Thursday morning that further charges are likely for a Knoxville man facing charges in connection with a Wednesday night crash that gravely injured a 20-year-old woman.

According to a KPD news release, Matthew Christian, 49, has been charged with driving under the influence and fleeing the scene of an accident. On Wednesday, May 29, a crash occurred on Middlebrook Pike at Amherst Road. KPD officers arrived at the location at approximately 7:15 p.m.

According to witnesses, the woman was driving a white Vespa scooter east on Middlebrook Pike and was stopped at the Amherst Road traffic light when she was rear-ended by a gray Dodge Charger. The woman was flung off the moped into the road, and the Charger driver, later identified as Christian, fled the scene before KPD police arrived.

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The woman was rushed to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for urgent, life-threatening injuries. Meanwhile, another KPD officer noticed the gray Dodge Charger driving west on Middlebrook Pike, and cops stopped it at Dick Lonas Road. According to KPD, the car exhibited “noticeable front-end damage consistent with the crash,” and Christian, the driver, allegedly showed various indicators of being under the influence.

KPD discovered that Christian has a prior DUI conviction from May 2021. He was brought into detention. The crash is still under investigation, and the woman’s condition as of Thursday morning was unknown other than her critical injuries.