Natalie Neysa Alund, and Ariana Sawyer

The Tennessean

Metro police fatal crash investigators on Monday charged a Nashville man with a history of DUI arrests with vehicular homicide by intoxication after his car crashed into a Bellevue home and killed a woman sleeping inside.

Michael E. Harris, 28, of Birch Bark Drive, was arrested on six felony charges including leaving the scene of an accident following the 12:55 a.m. crash in the 1100 block of General George Patton Road that claimed the life of a woman police believe to be the home's owner, 71-year-old Bobbie Ann Lafollette.

Metro police spokeswoman Kris Mumford said the medical examiner is working to confirm Lafollette's identity.

A preliminary investigation revealed Harris was driving his 2007 Lexus on Sawyer Brown Road when the car left the roadway, struck a utility pole and traveled through several yards before crashing into the house.

Lafollette, who property records show bought the two-story, four-bedroom home in 2004, was struck by the Lexus in the living room of the home and died at the scene, police said. Neighbors say Lafollette lived alone.

Neighbor Karen Woodall said she saw police remove the car from the living room this morning and that the sound of the wreck woke her up the night before.

"It sort of sounded like an explosion, and that's why I looked out the window thinking that there might be smoke or fire or something," Woodall said. But in the dark, she couldn't see anything until the emergency vehicles came to the scene.

Another nearby neighbor Linda Arnold's lawn has muddy tire tracks gouged into the grass. She woke up to take her dog outside about five minutes after Harris drove off the road and into Lafollette's house across the street.

"The lady next door to (Lafollette) said her living room backs up to (Lafollette's) living room, and she said it dented her living room wall in," Arnold said.

Arnold, 70, said cars regularly fail to stop at the intersection nearby.

"You would not believe the cars that come here and never stop," she said. "Some of them don't even slow down."

After the wreck, Harris and his passenger, Cody Taylor, 24, of Gallatin, fled the scene, Mumford said.

Meanwhile, the crash knocked out power for more than 150 Nashville Electric Service customers in the immediate area.

Shortly after the wreck, West Precinct officers located Harris and Taylor nearby. Both men were covered in drywall dust with recent visible injuries consistent with having been in an automobile crash, including scratches and bruises, Mumford said.

Taylor was not arrested, police say. But Harris, who police say smelled of alcohol, admitted he had consumed alcohol but denied having knowledge of being involved in a crash or the whereabouts of his car.

He refused to perform field sobriety tasks, Mumford said.

Harris, who was convicted of DUI in June 2015, is also charged with reckless endangerment, vehicular assault, leaving the scene of a fatal crash, failure to render aid and an open container violation. A blood sample from Harris will be analyzed for alcohol and drug content.

Harris was also arrested on a DUI charge in late 2009 but was convicted of a lesser-included offense of reckless driving in June 2010.

Harris was being held at the Metro Jail on $135,000 bond Monday afternoon.

Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at 615-259-8072. Follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.