A Lancing, Tennessee man was killed and eight others injured in a traffic crash involving three vehicles in Clarkrange on Labor Day, Monday, September 3, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

It happened at 1:55 p.m. on Highway 127, says a report by State Trooper Stanley Roberts.

Killed in the crash was Denver E. Bustle, 64, of Rome Road, Lancing, Tennessee. A passenger in his truck, Ellon Bustle, 66, of Lancing, was injured.

Bustle was driving a 2007 Chevrolet pickup south on Highway 127 and while negotiating a curve, crossed the highway’s center line and sideswiped a northbound 2007 Chevrolet SK1 pickup, causing that vehicle to run off the road and strike a phone box and then a tree, the trooper’s report says.

Bustle’s pickup then continued across the highway and was struck on the right by a 2012 Toyota 4-Runner which was traveling north, the report says.

The driver of the Chevrolet SK1 pickup was Stephanie L. Copeland, 58, of Coyote Trail, Allardt, Tennessee. She was injured, and so were five passengers in her vehicle. The THP report lists the passengers as Billy Copeland, 42, Lorean Crabtree, 66, and three juvenile boys ages eight, seven, and one, all of Allardt.

The third vehicle, the Toyota, was driven by Henry S. Breiner, Sr., 70, of Willow Lake Drive, Jamestown. He was injured.

All occupants of the three vehicles were using seat belts and the infant in the Copeland vehicle was in a properly used child restraint device, the trooper said.

THP Sgt. Billy Pierce also assisted in the investigation.

************************

When a woman showed up allegedly drunk at an elementary school to pick up her child, school officials called police.

It happened Friday afternoon, August 31 at Jere Whitson Elementary.

After a brief investigation, the Cookeville Police Department arrested Giselda Xum, 31, of Lee Ave., Cookeville, charging her with DUI, having an open container of alcohol, reckless endangerment, and evading arrest.

Officer Anthony Nash said Jere Whitson Elementary School officials notified police after Xum showed up there Friday afternoon to pick up her child.

She smelled of alcohol and had an open container in her vehicle, school officials told police.

When someone at the school questioned her, she drove off without picking up her child, the report says.

Officer Nash soon located the vehicle traveling on Willow Avenue and followed it as it turned east onto 12th Street.

The vehicle crossed the center line and Nash activated his car’s emergency equipment attempting to make a stop.

But the driver did not stop and continued on to Dixie Avenue, turned east onto 15th Street and finally stopped at 15th and Woodland, the report says.

Officer Nash found the driver to be Giselda Xum, who had a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage about her, was unsteady on her feet, and had red, watery eyes.

“From the passenger side of the vehicle, I observed a small child in the vehicle that was unrestrained and walking around inside the vehicle,” the officer’s report said. The mother was arrested and the Department of Children’s Services was notified and located a relative of the woman to take custody of her children.

Warrants on file in the case allege that Xum “did have in her possession a Republic of Guatemala identification card” and that she also had “five empty beer containers and one full” in her vehicle.

Xum was booked into the Putnam County Jail, where her total bond was set at $24,000. She has a September 24 court date.

************************

A mom who was in Cookeville over the weekend for visitation with her young son got arrested after leaving the boy alone in a motel room while she went partying, police said.

Jennifer Ann Perron, 29, of Stinson St., Milan, Tennessee, is charged with child neglect in the case, says a report by Cookeville Police Officer Brandon Tayes.

Someone at the Clarion Inn on S. Jefferson Ave. called police on Friday night, August 31, to report “an abandoned child,” the officer said.

“Upon arrival, I found (the child) to be running around the hotel. He stated that he didn’t know where his mom went. He said she left him and that she had been gone for some time.”

The officer checked the woman’s rented room and found that her belongings were still in the room.

Later, Jennifer Ann Perron did return to the hotel and the officer confronted her.

“I observed she was a passenger in a gold Honda Civic,” the report says. “She was dropped off and the car left. She had a strong odor of alcohol on her person and stated that she had just went out to get a soda.”

But allegedly, she soon changed her story, saying she had gone to see the child’s father, then changed it again and said she had been visiting a friend.

“It was later discovered that she had left the night before to go to the bar and never returned until the next morning,” the report says.

She stated that she started out at the Half Time bar and went other places from there. She ended up leaving a bar with an unknown couple and stayed the night with them. She stated she got really drunk and made a big mistake.”

Perron does not have custody of her son and was only there for a weekend visit with him, the report says.

The boy’s father, who does have custody, was notified and he came to get the child and took him home.

Perron was booked into the Putnam County Jail, where her bond was set at $25,000. She has an October 22 court date.