KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An 89-year-old man died Friday morning after his pickup truck crashed through a barrier and into the Tennessee River near a popular Knoxville waterfront restaurant.
Officers with the Knoxville Police Department responded at approximately 5:40 a.m. on June 19 to the 500 block of Neyland Drive near Calhoun’s on the River after receiving reports of a vehicle submerged in the water.
According to police, a Nissan pickup truck crashed through sidewalk barriers and entered the Tennessee River.
Officers from the University of Tennessee Police Department and personnel from the Knoxville Fire Department arrived before Knoxville police and were able to remove the driver from the vehicle.
The driver, identified as 89-year-old Burrell Harris, was the sole occupant of the truck.
Emergency responders immediately began life-saving measures after pulling Harris from the water, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The preliminary investigation indicates Harris had been in the parking lot of Calhoun’s on the River when he unintentionally accelerated in reverse, causing the truck to rapidly back through a barrier and into the river.
Knoxville Police Department crash reconstruction investigators are leading the investigation.
Authorities emphasized that the circumstances leading up to the crash remain under active investigation and that additional details have not yet been released.
No other injuries were reported.
