Child abuse charges filed against Chattanooga father

A father faces child abuse charges after he crashed his car into a telephone pole after reportedly drinking and did not take his daughter to receive medical care, according to Chattanooga police.

Paul Holloway, 30, faces charges of child abuse and neglect and reckless endangerment after his 11-year-old daughter's face smashed into the dashboard of his vehicle when he rammed a telephone pole in the 500 block of East 38th Street on Wednesday, according to a police report.

The girl sustained abrasions to her right cheek and had swelling around the forehead and face after the collision, the report said. She told police her father had been drinking all day.

"Once they got back to the house, Mr. Holloway refused to call police or take her to the hospital because he was afraid of getting in trouble," the report states.

The girl was able to call another adult to take her to the hospital where she received a CAT scan and treatment for her wounds.

The smashed-in bumper and hood were still visible on a tan Chevrolet Caprice sitting in the backyard of Holloway's home on Kirkland Avenue on Friday afternoon.

A woman who answered the door at the residence Friday declined to comment.

Holloway posted a $3,500 bond Friday morning after turning himself in, records show. He has had numerous prior driving offenses and arrests locally, ranging from driving without a license to coercion of a witness, according to court records.

A court date is set for Sept. 22 in General Sessions Judge Clarence Shattuck's courtroom.