A four-vehicle wreck shut down Highway 441 in Clarkesville for about an hour Thursday afternoon. The lunchtime crash sent two people to the hospital.
Just before 12:30 p.m., emergency personnel responded to the wreck in front of the Dairy Queen. According to the Georgia State Patrol crash report, three vehicles were stopped in the southbound lane as one attempted to turn into the restaurant.
Enrique Ramirez Bautista, 33, of Cornelia, was driving a Chevrolet Silverado construction truck south on Hwy. 441. He rear-ended a Ford F-150 pickup driven by Dylan Bryce Shook, 21, of Baldwin. The impact set off a chain reaction, causing the Ford F-150 to strike the Honda Pilot stopped in front of it. The Pilot then hit the Ford Crown Victoria that was attempting to turn.
The wreck did not injure Bautista or Shook. The driver of the Honda, Courtney Shay Sisum, 32, of Mt. Airy, also was unhurt. A 1-year-old boy in her vehicle was treated at the scene for cuts to his gums caused by glass.
The Crown Vic driver, Matthew Everett Ramey, 52, of Mt. Airy, and his passenger, Deborah Renae Ramey, 50, also of Mt. Airy, both sustained possible minor injuries. Habersham EMS transported them by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Demorest for treatment.
A trooper with GSP Post 7 in Toccoa investigated the wreck. The trooper charged Bautista with multiple offenses, including following too closely, no driver’s license, no insurance, and distracted driving.
Deputies re-routed traffic onto Double Bridge Road while the trooper investigated and tow trucks cleared the wreckage. The highway reopened around 1:20 p.m.
