Victor Guzman-Meza of Cornelia is charged with DUI.
A Cornelia man is in jail charged with DUI in connection with an accident Friday that critically injured a Cleveland woman.
Trooper Jesse Lewis of the Georgia State Patrol post in Toccoa says 21-year old Kayla Liles suffered a possible broken neck in the accident. She was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in critical condition.
Lewis says Liles was riding in the back seat of a car driven by 23-year old Victor Guzman-Meza. He was driving a 1998 Nissan Maxima east on Chase Road between Walmart and Pine Street in Cornelia when he ran off the shoulder of the road and lost control. The car hit a fence then a power pole. It spun around, coming to rest off the shoulder of the road facing north.
Liles was sitting on the right side of the car, the same side that hit the power pole. Lewis says it appears she was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the accident and was not ejected but she had been removed from the car by the time law enforcement arrived.
Guzman-Meza and his front seat passenger, 18-year old Alejandro Rafael of Cornelia, were not injured.
Guzman-Meza is charged with driving under the influence, serious injury by vehicle, failure to maintain lane and driving too fast for conditions.
He was arrested and booked in the Habersham County Detention Center.
The accident happened around 11 p.m. Friday, December 5, causing a brief power outage at Walmart and nearby restaurants.
Chase Road was shut down for five hours as rescue crews cleared the scene and Georgia Power crews replaced the damaged power pole.
