“In all my years of working wrecks I’ve never seen one like this,” says Georgia State Patrol Trooper John Crawford.
TFC Crawford is referring to a three-car, double T-Bone accident that happened Monday afternoon on the US 441 Bypass in Baldwin.
The accident happened just before 3 p.m. at the intersection with Industrial Boulevard.
53-year-old Jeffery Bernard Watkins of Homer was traveling south on US 441 in a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria when he ran a red light at the intersection, according to Crawford. He then struck the driver side of a 2011 Chevy Cruze that was attempting to turn north onto the Bypass. At the same time, a Dodge Charger traveling west on Industrial Boulevard ran into Watkins’ car.
All three drivers and a passenger in the Charger complained of injuries. Watkins was taken by ambulance to Habersham Medical Center in Demorest where he was treated and released.
The driver of the Chevy Cruze, 26-year-old Dedra Lynn Ramirez of Baldwin, suffered an apparent leg injury. Crawford says curtain airbags deployed in Ramirez’ car and helped keep her from “getting hurt worse than she was.”
The driver of the Charger, 46-year-old Patricia Lynette Browner, and her passenger, 20-year-old Quintrovious Thornton, both of Cornelia, complained of unspecified injuries.
A nearby store surveillance camera captured the accident on tape. Officials charged Watkins with failure to obey a traffic control device.
The accident shut down the southbound lanes near the intersection for about 1.5 hours. Baldwin Police and Fire personnel rerouted traffic while the State Patrol investigated and crews cleared the wreckage.
