THP: Woman charged after fleeing traffic stop with toddler in car

CROCKETT COUNTY, Tenn. — THP officials have identified the woman they say crashed her car Thursday afternoon in Gadsden after fleeing a traffic stop with her 3-year-old daughter unrestrained in the back seat.

Teerika Settles

Teerika Settles, 20, is facing 10 charges including four felonies after the incident, which they say began when a state trooper pulled her over in Haywood County.

Settles is charged with child neglect, child restraint violation, reckless endangerment, evading arrest, criminal impersonation, driving on a revoked license and other traffic violations.

She is being held without bond pending arraignment.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, a trooper pulled over a blue Chevy Cavalier along Highway 79 in Haywood County, according to Sgt. Chris Richardson with the THP Memphis district.

The driver, later identified as Settles, provided false information and then sped away as the trooper was walking back to his car.

The trooper began a pursuit that started around 3:10 p.m. and lasted less than ten minutes. Troopers terminated the pursuit since the stop was for a minor offense.

Dispatch got a call around 3:30 p.m. reporting that the woman had been in a wreck in Gadsden involving a maroon Mercury near the intersection of Highway 79 and Highway 221. Officers say no one was seriously injured.