Reba Coots couldn't shake the image she had just seen: Someone thrown from a vehicle after it was smashed on its right side by another car.
Coots, who was working at a Goodwill donation truck near the 700 block of Signal Mountain Road on Wednesday, heard a loud "thump" and looked up to see the body flying.
"Oh, it was just awful," she said. "You see a body come flying out of the car, hitting the pavement, and the car's spinning -- you can just see that car rolling over that person. It didn't, but you can still picture it."
At least one person was taken to the hospital in the two-car crash, but the extent of injuries was unclear. The names of those involved were not available late Wednesday, police said.
According to police, a Lexus apparently darted from Mundy Lane onto Signal Mountain Road and broadsided a Nissan Sentra. The Sentra driver was ejected, and the Lexus plunged off a 25-foot embankment on the other side of the road.
Chattanooga police Sgt. Rick Mincy said witnesses reported the Lexus driver was doing doughnuts in the Kmart parking lot when a security guard told him to leave. The motorist made a rude hand gesture before tearing off toward Signal Mountain Road, he said.
Mark Cady, who lives at nearby Signal Mountain Apartments, heard the incident.
"I heard someone doing doughnuts; I heard tires squealing," he said. "Next thing I know, I heard sirens."