A four-vehicle chain reaction crash sent three people to area hospitals and stopped traffic for over an hour on Smithville Hwy. Thursday afternoon.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office, North Warren Fire Department, Warren County EMS and Tennessee Highway Patrol responded to the accident, which occurred near 3:30 p.m. Thursday between Hwy. 56 Church of Christ and Freedom Life Church.

Kholton Melton, 18, of DeKalb County was ruled the at-fault driver in the accident after initiating the crash by colliding with a pickup truck which was stopped in the northbound lane.

Two vehicles – a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Rachel Zahn and a 2016 Nissan Titan driven by Jason Rice – were stopped waiting for a vehicle in front of them to turn into the lower parking lot at Freedom Life Church when a GMC Canyon pickup truck, driven by Melton, collided with the rear of Rice’s vehicle. The impact sent Rice into the Equinox, and spun Melton’s truck into the southbound lane, where it was struck by an oncoming Chevrolet Silverado driven by 34-year-old Hugo Diaz-Velazquez.

Melton’s truck was severely damaged on both the front end and passenger side, while Velazquez went off the right side of the road, eventually coming to a stop in the lot between the two local churches.

Melton was transported to Ascension St. Thomas DeKalb Hospital, while two passengers in the Velazquez vehicle – Brenda Diaz, 28, and Isabel Morales, 47, were both taken by Warren County EMS to Ascension St. Thomas River Park. Morales was treated and released, while Diaz was reportedly airlifted to Vanderbilt early Thursday evening.

Neither Rice, Velazquez, Zahn nor her 6-year-old daughter, who was a passenger in the Equinox, required medical treatment at the scene. All occupants of the four vehicles were reportedly wearing their seatbelts.

Melton was cited for failure to exercise due care, while Velazquez was cited for driving without a license.