A Toccoa man was killed, and four others were injured in a two-vehicle wreck south of Toccoa this weekend.
Troopers with Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa investigated the crash, which occurred Friday night on GA 106/Mize Road at Old Mize Road.
Crashed at ‘high rate of speed’
According to the preliminary crash report, 33-year-old Lacitrus Gholston was driving north on GA 106 at a “high rate of speed.”
“While negotiating a curve to the left, Mr. Gholston lost control of his vehicle,” the reports states.
The Charger crossed into the southbound traffic lane and collided with a Ford SuperDuty pickup truck driven by Brian Caleb Phillips of Toccoa.
After impact, the pickup flipped onto its roof, slid, and struck a traffic sign before stopping upright on the right shoulder of the highway. The Charger came to an uncontrolled rest on the right shoulder of the road.
The 21-year-old Phillips and three passengers in his vehicle sustained minor injuries. One of the passengers was a 15-year-old boy. Troopers did not release his name. They identified the two other passengers as Brooke Alyssa Phillips, 24, and Breelin S. Reece, 18, both of Toccoa.
Emergency personnel transported all four occupants of the pickup to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville with non-life-threatening injuries.
Troopers say Gholston was unrestrained. He died at the scene.
No active pursuit
While some local news outlets quoted family sources as saying Gholston was fleeing from law enforcement at the time of the crash, the commander of the state patrol post that investigated the crash says there was no active pursuit.
Georgia State Patrol Post 7 Commander Donnie Saddler tells Now Habersham that Gholston was speeding and passing on a double yellow line. He says the trooper noticed and was turning around, but Gholston was “never fleeing.”
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