It’s been a hectic two days on the road for local law enforcement and first responders kept busy by a string of accidents. At least seven incidents were reported in Habersham County Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving six people injured.
Among those hurt is a semi-truck driver whose rig crashed into a power pole Tuesday on the Toccoa Highway at Jess Kinney Road. The crash crushed the cab as the tractor folded up under the front of the trailer.
The Georgia State Patrol says the truck was owned by Central Transport LLC. The driver, 24-year-old Nazeal Ortiz of Snellville suffered minor injuries. Habersham EMS transported him to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville where he was treated and later released.
The accident downed power lines, knocking out electricity and traffic lights in the area for several hours.
Earlier in the day on December 15, a car struck a man riding a bicycle on West Louise Street in Clarkesville. He suffered head trauma and other minor injuries, according to officials. Habersham County Emergency Services transported the man by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for treatment.
Around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday emergency personnel responded to the scene of a rollover wreck on GA-365 at the Highway 441 Bypass in Cornelia. “First responders arrived to find the vehicle upside down with the occupant out of the vehicle,” says Habersham County Emergency Services Director Chad Black. EMS transported one adult patient to the hospital in Gainesville. Soon after, units responded to a two-vehicle crash on Cannon Bridge Road in Demorest that injured both drivers.
On Wednesday, December 16, the Georgia State Patrol reports Troopers responded to a hit-and-run accident on Historic 441 in Demorest. Carl Little, 57, of Demorest, was in the northbound lane stopped at a red light when a Honda Accord rear-ended his vehicle. After impact, the Honda driver fled the crash scene on foot. Troopers say the Honda license plate had been taken from another vehicle and the car was not insured.
CPL John Getty with Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa says the driver who fled has not been caught or identified.
At 12:35 p.m. Wednesday, a 2006 jeep Cherokee, driven by Shayla Beaver, 21 of Thomaston, wrecked while traveling south on Habersham Mill Road. She told the investigating Trooper she was distracted, looking at the radio, when she ran off the road and struck a rock embankment. Emergency personnel transported her to Habersham Medical Center for a complaint of an injury. The State Trooper cited Beaver for failure to maintain lane and no proof of insurance.
And four people escaped injury in a rear-end crash Wednesday afternoon on SR 384/Duncan Bridge Road. Officials were called to the scene around 1:30 p.m. after a 2002 Ford pickup driven by William Wurtz, 27 of Cleveland, struck the rear of another pickup when it slowed to turn. Both drivers and two passengers in the second pickup escaped without injury.
This article has been updated with additional information from the Georgia State Patrol
