Vehicle plunges down staircase on UTC campus, driver dies

March 11, 2017 at 3:26 p.m. | Updated March 11, 2017 at 8:57 p.m.

by Staff Report

A UTC student walks Saturday near the scene of a fatal crash that occurred late Friday night at 700 Vine Street on the campus of UTC. The driver was killed after the vehicle traveled down several flights of stairs in a pedestrian area, and the passenger was transported with injuries.
A UTC student walks Saturday near the scene of a fatal crash that occurred late Friday night at 700 Vine Street on the campus of UTC. The driver was killed after the vehicle traveled down several flights of stairs in a pedestrian area, and the passenger was transported with injuries.

A 47-year-old woman died late Friday night when her northbound Jeep Wrangler broke through a barricade on Vine Street, plunged down several flights of stairs in a pedestrian area on the UTC campus, then flipped upside down.

Police said Kimberly Ann Payne was driving north on Campus Drive when the crash happened around 11 p.m. She died at the scene. Her passenger, Ronnie Lee Montgomery, 52, received minor injuries, according to a Chattanooga police news release.

No students or campus employees were hurt.

Police are investigating the crash. Anyone with information is asked to call 423-698-2525.

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