First responders with Habersham County Emergency Services work to free Darrell Wheeler from the wrecked Jeep Wrangler he was driving. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
The driver and passenger involved in a wreck on GA 105 Friday in Habersham County are now both in trouble with the law.
The driver, Darrell Wheeler, and his passenger, Jess W. Chitwood, face charges unrelated to the crash. The Georgia State Patrol (GSP) also charged Wheeler in connection with the accident.
Wheeler was driving a 1999 Jeep Wrangler north on GA 105 around 9:15 a.m. on Dec. 20 when the crash occurred. He was hauling a utility trailer loaded with firewood when the trailer began to sway, according to GSP Trooper First Class Kirk Lund. Wheeler lost control of the vehicle, the trailer detached from it, and the Jeep overturned in a ditch just north of Holiday Road.
Wheeler was seriously injured in the crash. Habersham County Emergency Services personnel had to free him from the wreckage. Air Life Georgia 2 airlifted him to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville
Habersham EMS transported Chitwood by ambulance to Habersham Medical Center in Demorest.
Officials did not release details of the charges facing both men but in addition to those charges, GSP charged Wheeler with failure to maintain lane and DUI – drugs less safe.
The wreck shut down both lanes of traffic near the crash site on Highway 105 for nearly two hours.
