Eyewitness News Reporter
COLLEGEDALE, HAMILTON COUNTY, TN (WRCB) - We are learning more details about a fatal accident reported Friday on Eyewitness News.
Collegedale Police confirm 51 year-old Robert Kenneth Bales of Ooltewah died at Erlanger early Friday morning.
Three days after his death, Jenna Bales returned to the spot where her father crashed his SUV.
"Someone told me one of the neighbors was trying to come hold his hand, but the police wouldn't let them," said Bales, "so he was laying in the ditch for about 45 minutes by himself."
Broken glass and beer cans mark the stretch of Ooltewah- Georgetown road where 51 year-old Robert Bales lost control of his vehicle.
He led police on a chase after a restaurant employee called police.
911 Caller: I have this man in my drive-thru. I don't think he even knows what color the sky is.
In the 911 call obtained by Eyewitness News, the woman tells police she doesn't think Bales should be driving.
"He started to pay for it, demanded his credit card when he paid for cash," said Collegedale Police Chief Brian Hickman, "and they knew right away he was impaired."
Police arrived and followed Bales to a nearby gas station.
Officers approached the vehicle, and took Bales' driver license. Before they could run his name through the system he took off.
What happens next is all caught on tape.
Bales missed a u-turn and plows into a ditch, but he keeps going. The dash cam shows him weaving from lane to lane.
Hamilton County deputies were called and worked to lay spike strips, but Bales didn't make it that far.
Taking a curve too fast, his SUV rolled several times. Bales was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car.
He was taken to Erlanger by air-ambulance, where he later died.
We did some checking and discovered Bales has been arrested multiple times in Hamilton County.
Jenna Bales doesn't want people to remember her dad for his faults -- rather the love he had for his family.
"He was an alcoholic but he wasn't a bad person," said Bales, "he was a really good dad and he did love us."
The medical examiner is waiting on toxicology results to come back before releasing any information about Bales' manner or death or blood alcohol level.
