Authorities are investigating whether a medical emergency contributed to a single-vehicle wreck early Saturday that claimed the life of a Toccoa man.
69-year-old Rafael Emiliano Garcia died in a wreck around 7:10 a.m. on January 7 on Prospect Road near Williams Bridge Road in Franklin County.
Garcia was driving an Infiniti QX60 south on Prospect Road when the crash occurred, the Georgia State Patrol reports. According to the preliminary investigation, the vehicle struck six separate mailboxes over a nearly half-mile long stretch of road before driving head-on into a tree.
“The driver had be extricated from the Infiniti and Franklin County EMS personnel immediately began CPR in an effort to resuscitate the driver; however, the driver subsequently died at the crash scene from his sustained injuries,” says Sgt. J.R. Dean of Georgia State Patrol Post 52 in Hartwell.
“Impairment is not suspected, but the driver suffering a medical emergency is under further investigation,” adds Dean.
Troopers at the scene determined Garcia was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.
