Five people narrowly escaped potential injury early Dec. 26 in an accident on the U.S. 11E Bypass involving an automobile and a Greene County/Greeneville Emergency Medical Services ambulance carrying a patient.

According to an initial report and a follow-up report by Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Derrick Turberville, the driver of the automobile was Anne O'Keefe Harbison, 25, of Knoxville, and the driver of the EMS ambulance was Jason Austin, 31, of Limestone.

There were no injuries to any of the five people in the two vehicles, and the vehicles themselves reportedly suffered minor damage.

Information concerning the accident involving the automobile and the ambulance was extremely limited in the initial report filed Dec. 26 by Trooper Turberville.

In an effort to obtain a more complete report, including the official THP account of how the accident occurred, The Greeneville Sun attempted to contact the trooper but was unsuccessful in reaching him.

The Sun then repeatedly contacted a Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security information officer in Nashville last week requesting a more detailed report of the accident.

Trooper Turberville's preliminary, but considerably more detailed, follow-up report was completed late in the week and emailed to a Sun reporter by a Department of Safety and Homeland Security spokesman in Nashville on Friday evening, Dec. 30.

However, because the newspaper office was closed Saturday and Sunday and the reporter was on New Year's holiday on Monday, Jan. 2, the more detailed THP document did not come to the attention of the newspaper staff until Tuesday morning, Jan. 3, when the reporter returned to work.

Additionally, contacts were made this week by the Sun with EMS Director Robert Sayne in order to resolve questions about the accident that were raised by the THP report.

According to Trooper Turberville's Dec. 30 report, the accident occurred at 1:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 26, and involved a 2004 Mini Cooper, driven by Harbison, and the EMS ambulance, driven by Austin.

Harbison and a passenger were southbound on the 11E Bypass.

The ambulance was traveling northbound on the Bypass, carrying Austin, the driver, as well as a passenger and a patient who was being transported to the Johnson City Medical Center.

The report stated that Harbison, coming southbound, was attempting to make a left turn from the Bypass onto Justis Drive, crossing traffic in the northbound lane of 11E.

According to the Dec. 30 report, Harbison "stated the light was green and continued to make the turn and T-Boned the ambulance in its side."

The report added: "Note, the ambulance did not have emergency lights or sirens activated."

The report states that there were no injuries to anyone in either vehicle, and that both drivers were wearing seatbelts.

The THP reports did not list the names of passengers in either vehicle, or the name of the patient in the ambulance.

According to Harbison, there was slight damage to the bumper of the Mini Cooper, and the front license plate on the car was somewhat bent.

EMS Director Sayne told the Sun in an interview on Wednesday that, in talking with his staff about the incident, he had learned that Austin, the driver of the ambulance, swerved to avoid colliding with Harbison's vehicle.

Sayne said that the ambulance sustained "minor damage."

"I think there was some small scratches on the driver's side of the patient compartment, and that was about it," Sayne said.

"Another ambulance responded to the scene to transport the patient on to Johnson City."

The EMS director told the Sun that the transport of the patient was not an emergency situation and that, when an emergency is not involved, it is standard policy for EMS ambulances not to use their siren or their emergency lights.

According to the initial, Dec. 26 report by Trooper Turberville, Harbison had "a strong odor of alcohol" and failed field sobriety tests at the scene.

She was charged with DUI, cited for failure to yield the right-of-way, and booked at the Greene County Jail, according to the Dec. 30 report.

She opted to take a blood alcohol test after the accident, and the blood samples were taken at Laughlin Memorial Hospital. Toxicology test results are pending.

At an arraignment in Greene County General Sessions Court on Dec. 28, Harbison entered a plea of Not Guilty to the charges against her. A trial date was set for March 19 in Sessions Court.

The THP investigation is continuing.