A man wanted for vehicular homicide in Franklin County was arrested Monday afternoon after he was pulled over for taking pictures of a wreck in Habersham County.
Robby Douglas McDaniel, 57, of Jefferson, was wanted on a second-degree vehicular homicide warrant taken by the Georgia State Patrol for the Nov. 1, 2022, wreck that killed Johnny Burton Freeman, 78, of Toccoa. The wreck also injured a 16-year-old passenger in Freeman’s car.
The Georgia State Patrol said in that wreck McDaniel’s Ford F-250 pickup truck ran a stop sign at the intersection of Grady School Road and Stone Bridge and collided with Freeman’s Cadillac DeVille.
On Monday, a Habersham County Sheriff’s Office sergeant, who was on the scene of a rollover crash on Highway 365 southbound at Level Grove Road, observed a white tractor-trailer truck with the male driver, later identified as McDaniel, holding a phone in his hand taking a photo of the wreck.
“When he pulled over the truck, the sergeant told him the reason for the stop, and McDaniel said he was taking a picture of the accident,” says Habersham County PIO Rob Moore.
Upon running McDaniel’s license, the deputy returned with a confirmed warrant out of Franklin County related to that November wreck and arrested McDaniel.
The tractor-trailer he was driving, loaded with a piece of heavy equipment, was impounded, according to Moore.
Franklin County Sheriff Steve Thomas said Tuesday afternoon his deputy had picked up McDaniel to be returned to that county to answer the charge.
