Security cameras catch renegade driver - but no sobriety test

DURHAM, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A man is under arrest after a bizarre crash that deputies suspect involved alcohol, but the driver was never given a sobriety test.

James Christopher Addison, 50, was arrested for intent to injure personal property and is out on a $1,000 bond.

Michael Lynch, whose surveillance system recorded the collisions, expressed anger at what he thinks is a dangerous lapse in justice.

"What if it was me driving going out for the night at a local store - I could've been killed," Lynch lamented to ABC11. "It could've been anybody."

The dramatic video shows a white car in reverse ramming a second vehicle into a ditch, then colliding with it again. According to the Durham County Sheriff's Office, however, when the deputy arrived to investigate both drivers had exited their vehicles and only one man - Addison - remained on scene.

After speaking with Addison, the deputy did suspect alcohol was involved, but without a second person to corroborate the story, the deputy did not have probable cause to arrest Addison on suspicion of drunk driving.

A spokeswoman for the Durham County Sheriff's Office provided this statement:

A deputy noticed the two vehicles in the driveway as he passed by 3114 East Geer Street. He turned around to investigate and as he approached the driveway again, he noticed one car strike another, ramming it into the ditch. When the deputy reached the residence, the driver of the car had already exited the vehicle. The person in the car that was struck could not be immediately located. The deputy spoke with James Addison on the front porch of his residence because he suspected he was the driver of the vehicle that rammed the other car. While the deputy suspected alcohol was involved, he could not determine if the suspect was the driver of the vehicle. Mr. Addison was arrested for Injury to Personal Property after the deputy interviewed the complainant.