He plowed his white 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee through two front yards, turning statues into rubble and hitting a pickup truck.
After battering the yards, in the 1600 block of Seventh Street North, he kept driving, leaking transmission fluid all the way to 824 Seventh St. N.
There, three concerned citizens confronted William D. Sherman, who was apparently inebriated, and waited for police.
Sherman, 26, of 169 Crestwood Drive in Columbus, faces charges of leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license after the Thursday night incident.
And since Sherman also was charged with driving without insurance, the residents whose property was damaged may have to sue to get any compensation.
“He came in my yard, hit part of the flower bed, smashed a statue, hit another statue, ran through the flower bed and destroyed another yard, hit his pickup truck, hit an ornamental stone and kept going,” said Jones, who lives at the corner of Plain Street and Seventh Street North.
Jones had just gotten home from buying a battery when his neighbor knocked on the door and gave him the news.
“I thought, ”Oh no, years of work just gone down the tube,” he said. “He left parts of his car all over the place.”
The front bumper of the Jeep was in Jones” yard. Other parts of the vehicle were scattered about.
David Kittrell, of 1607 Seventh St. N., heard the ruckus from inside his house, when Sherman drove through his yard and hit his black pickup.
Jermaine Hodges and brothers Dustin Evans and Jeremy Evans were in a Honda traveling behind Sherman when he turned right onto Seventh Street North from 18th Avenue. He was driving with his headlights off and on the wrong side of the road.
Once Sherman turned his lights on, they said, he swerved to get back on the right side of the road and drove into Jones” and Kittrell”s yards.
Jeremy Evans called the vehicle”s license plate number in to the police at about 7:05 p.m., while Dustin Evans drove, in pursuit of the Jeep.
“Someone could have gotten killed. We just couldn”t let him get away with that,” said Hodges.
The trio followed Sherman to 824 Seventh St. N., where he pulled partly into the driveway.
“He got out, and I asked was he all right. But we (also) were on the phone with the police the whole time,” said Jeremy Evans.
“We blocked him in, so he couldn”t leave,” said Dustin Evans.
Sherman fled up the driveway, which is on a hill, where his mother was working, caring for an elderly person.
By the time Columbus police officer Heath Beard arrived at the scene, Bo Jarrett of Jarrett”s Towing already was there to tow the Jeep.
“(Sherman”s) mother worked at a residence in the 800 block of Seventh Street, and that”s where he went,” said Beard. “His mother called (Jarrett) to tow the car.” She also walked him down the hill to meet police.
Sherman had no visible injuries and refused transport to the hospital, Beard said.
While the three young men “did the right thing” in calling the police and getting a license plate number, Beard advises anyone in a similar situation to “get a tag number and back away,” for their own safety.
Sherman was transported to the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center. Sherman claimed he was text messaging at the time of the incident, Beard said, but the officer was sure “there was more to it than that.”
Sherman had a previous DUI arrest, for which his license was suspended.
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