A Williamsburg woman facing multiple felony charges stemming from a September crash involving Whitley County Sheriff Bill Elliotte has entered a not guilty plea in her case.
Ashley Melton Sulfridge, 41, appeared in Whitley Circuit Court on Monday for arraignment on charges of two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief, all of which she was indicted on last month by a Whitley County grand jury.
A not guilty plea was entered to the charges during Monday’s proceedings. A follow-up pretrial conference has been scheduled for Jan. 30, 2025.
Sulfridge is accused of causing a traffic collision that injured the sheriff and another motorist.
On Sept. 19, she struck Elliotte’s official 2022 Dodge Ram patrol vehicle and a 2018 GM truck causing over $1,000 in damage to each vehicle and causing serious physical injuries to both Elliotte and the driver of the other vehicle, according to her indictment.
The crash occurred just after 9 a.m. along US-25W near the intersection with McKeehan Crossing Road when a vehicle operated by Sulfridge crossed the centerline and struck two vehicles.
Elliotte, who did not suffer any major injuries during the crash, told the News Journal later that evening how the crash unfolded.
“I was going up the Falls Road behind another vehicle and a lady crossed over into our lane of traffic. [The man in front of me] swerved trying to avoid her and she sideswiped the right side of his truck and come back and caught mine not quite head-on, but pretty close,” said Elliotte.
Sulfridge and the man from the other vehicle, who was only identified as an “elderly male,” were both taken to Baptist Health Corbin for treatment of minor injuries. Elliotte initially declined treatment, but was eventually talked into being seen for complaints of a headache.
Elliotte’s police cruiser was totaled as a result of the crash.
According to an arrest citation, a witness at the scene told police that Sulfridge appeared to be under the influence when she was being put into the ambulance. Police also allegedly found an open Mike’s Hard Lemonade in the middle console of Sulfridge’s vehicle.
Police went to the hospital to have Sulfridge submit to a blood test. The arrest citation stated that sometime between when the blood was taken and when more police arrived to perform an interview of Sulfridge, she allegedly slipped out of the hospital.
Sulfridge was found to have three active warrants for her arrest at the time of the incident.
Sulfridge was later located by the Corbin Police Department. Her arrest citation does not detail where, though Elliotte told the News Journal she was found at a Save-A-Lot in the area.
She currently remains jailed in the Whitley County Detention Center in lieu of a $25,000 cash bond.
