Traffic stops and wrecks kept law enforcement busy over the weekend.

Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Ray Haynes said he clocked a small car doing 71 mph in a 55 mph zone around 3 a.m. Saturday. Haynes stopped the car and as he was talking to the driver, the passenger in the car, Thomas Snyder Packett, no known address, began talking to Haynes about a matter that had happened earlier.

Haynes said he had nothing to do with that incident, but did notice Packett was unsteady on his feet, had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol.

Haynes told Packett to get back in the car and he did, but once he was seated, Haynes said Packett continued to shout out the window at him.

Haynes told Packett he was under arrest for public intoxication and told him to get out of the car, something Packett now refused to do.

Haynes said he forcibly removed Packett from the car, placed him on the ground and handcuffed him. He then put Packett in the back of his patrol car, but Packett refused to put his legs inside.

Haynes said Packett was told several times to put his legs in, but refused and Madisonville Police Captain Chris Wilburn used his Taser drive stuns on him. Packett still refused to put his legs in the car and Haynes had to physically push him the rest of the way in.

Once he was at the jail, Haynes said Packett still refused to cooperate and began to fight with jailers before he was finally jailed. Packett is charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest.

Vonore Police Officer Matt Watson arrested a Lenoir City man Sunday night just before 9 p.m. after a report of a one-vehicle wreck on Highway 72 West.

When Watson arrived at the scene he said the driver of the car, Jessica Rickman, told him she had come to Vonore to pick up her husband Justin Rickman, 24, Lenoir City, because he was drunk and couldn't drive.

Watson said the couple were arguing when he arrived and Jessica Rickman said they had been driving and arguing when her husband, for an unknown reason, grabbed her leg, causing her to lose control of the car and wreck.

Justin Rickman agreed they had been arguing and admitted he'd been drinking. He is charged with domestic abuse and public intoxication.

Sheriff's Deputy Michael Cansler managed to make an arrest after a car accident Sunday morning, even though there was no one around the car when he arrived.

Cansler said he arrived at a residence on Creek Road around 10:30 a.m. and found a vehicle had run through a fence belonging to Pam Burns. When he ran the tag on the car, it came back to a Daniel Stringer, 27, Greenbriar Road, Sweetwater.

The residence was called by dispatch and the mother of Stringer said she had received a text from her son saying he had wrecked his truck around 3:30 a.m. She was told to get in touch with her son and have him come to the scene.

When Stringer arrived, he admitted he had wrecked around 2 a.m. and that a passenger in the truck with him had gone to the hospital. When the passenger was contacted, he told Cansler he had suffered a broken arm.

Stringer is charged with leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury.

michael.thomason@advocateanddemocrat.com | 442-4575