The truck driver charged with vehicular homicide in the June I-75 crash that killed six people in Chattanooga agreed today not to fight extradition to Hamilton County to face those charges.
Ben Brewer, 39, was arrested in Lexington, Ky., on Aug. 7 after he was wanted for several days on multiple crash-related charges in Hamilton County.
Both Brewer and his fiance, 38-year-old Charity Pennington, appeared in Fayette County District Court today for a preliminary hearing for drug charges related to the Aug. 7 arrest. Brewer waived his right to extradition in a separate hearing.
During the hearing, Lexington Police Officer J.A. Ramirez recounted how U.S. Marshals tracked Brewer's cell phone to the shopping plaza where he was caught on Aug. 7.
Charity Pennington, fiance of Ben Brewer, the semi-truck driver involved in the I-75 accident in June that killed six people, reacts to the Judge T. Bruce Bells decision to take her into custody during her preliminary hearing for failing to complete a drug test before appearing in court on August 19 , 2015. Pennington faces charges of trafficking meth and hindering apprehension.
I-75 crashPennington and Brewer were found in a vehicle together, Ramirez said.
Pennington had $3,067 in cash in her purse, and Brewer had three grams of methamphetamine in a bag in his pocket, Ramirez said.
Pennington, who was riding with Brewer during the I-75 crash, was charged with trafficking meth and hindering apprehension. Brewer was charged trafficking meth and with criminal mischief after he kicked out the door of a police cruiser during the arrest.
In the hearing today, Pennington's attorney argued that authorities did not have enough evidence to charge Pennington with trafficking meth, because she was not found with any drugs on her and having a large amount of cash is not a crime.
But Judge Bruce Bell disagreed, saying that Brewer's 3 grams of meth combined with Pennington's cash was enough cause to charge the pair with trafficking.
At the end of the hearing, Pennington, who had been released on bond, was taken back into custody because she failed to complete a drug test that Bell said she was ordered to complete when she was released from jail the first time.
Pennington seemed shocked and sobbed as she was handcuffed and taken back to jail. She is being held on a $28,000 bond.
Stay with the Times Free Press for updates on this developing story.