January 3, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
A McMinnville man lost his life in a head-on crash Wednesday afternoon on Highway 146 near the DeKalb County line in Cannon County.
Dead is 35 year old Freddie Eldridge.
The crash occurred at 3:20 p.m. about a mile from the DeKalb County Line.
According to Trooper Richard Teachout of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Eldridge was traveling south in a 2013 Honda Civic when he crossed into the northbound lane while trying to negotiate a curve and struck an oncoming 2012 Jeep Cherokee driven by 51 year old Melissa Stringer of Smithville.
Eldridge died at the scene. Stringer was taken by Cannon County EMS to Saint Thomas Stones River Hospital in Woodbury and then to Vanderbilt Hospital.
Members of the Cannon County Rescue Squad were summoned to perform extrication services to help remove the body of Eldridge, which was pinned in the vehicle. The Cannon County Short Mountain Highway Fire Station and Cannon County Sheriff’s Department were also on the scene.