News

Auto Accidents

• Investigators Seek Answers About Pre-Dawn Pileup That Killed At Least 10 On Florida Highway
  Jan 30, 2012
  GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Authorities in Florida were trying to determine Monday what caused the horrific pileup on Interstate 75 south of Gainesville, where a long line of cars and trucks collided one after another on a dark highway so shrouded in haze and smoke that drivers were blinded.
  At least 10 were killed in the early Sunday pileup and another 18 were hospitalized.
  
   

  ( Phil Sandlin / Associated Press ) - Firemen hose down a commercial carrier truck on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., after it was involved in a multi-vehicle wreck which killed at least nine people in the early hours of Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame.
  

   
  All lanes of I-75 reopened late Sunday, but authorities closed the highway again early Monday due to poor visibility caused by fog and smoke.
  Steven R. Camps and some friends were driving home hours before dawn Sunday when they were suddenly drawn into the massive wreck.
  “You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy,” the Gainesville man said hours later. “If I could give you an idea of what it looked like, I would say it looked like the end of the world.”
  The interstate had been closed for a time before the accidents because of a mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire that may have been intentionally set. The decision to reopen it early Sunday will certainly be a focus of investigators, as will the question of how the fire may have started.
  The pileups happened around 3:45 a.m. Sunday on both sides of I-75. When rescuers first arrived, they could only listen for screams and moans because the poor visibility made it difficult to find victims in wreckage that was strewn for nearly a mile.
  At least a dozen cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flames.
  Hours later, twisted, burned-out vehicles were scattered across the pavement, with smoke still rising from the wreckage. Cars appeared to have smashed into the big rigs and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were crushed beneath the heavier trucks.
  Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw bodies still inside a burned-out Grand Prix. One tractor-trailer was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. And the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.
  Before Camps hit the fog bank, a friend who was driving ahead of him in a separate vehicle called to warn of the road conditions. The friend said he had just seen an accident and urged Camps to be careful as he approached the Paynes Prairie area, just south of Gainesville.
  A short time later, Camps said, traffic stopped along the northbound lanes.
  “You couldn’t see anything. People were pulling off the road,” he said.
  Camps said he began talking about the road conditions to a man in the car stopped next to him when another vehicle hit that man’s car.
  The man’s vehicle was crushed under a semi-truck stopped in front of them. Camps said his car was hit twice, but he and another friend were able to jump out. They took cover in the grass on the shoulder of the road.
  All around them, cars and trucks were on fire, and they could hear explosions as the vehicles burned.
  “It was happening on both sides of the road, so there was nowhere to go. It blew my mind,” he said, explaining that the scene “looked like someone was picking up cars and throwing them.”
  Authorities had not released the names of victims Sunday evening, but said one passenger car had four fatalities. A “tour bus-like” vehicle also was involved in the pileup, police said.
  All six lanes of the interstate were closed most of Sunday as investigators surveyed the site and firefighters put out the last of the flames. Some traffic was being diverted onto U.S. 301 and State Road 27, Lt. Patrick Riordan, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, said. The northbound lanes were reopened at about 5:30 p.m.
  At some point before the pileup, police briefly closed the highway because of fog and smoke. The road was reopened when visibility improved, police said. Riordan said he was not sure how much time passed between the reopening of the highway and the first crash.
  A spokeswoman for the Florida Forest Service, Ludie Bond, said the fire began Saturday, and investigators were trying to determine whether the blaze had been intentionally set. She said there were no controlled burns in the area and no lightning.
  Bond also said the fire had burned 62 acres and was contained but still burning Sunday. A similar fire nearby has been burning since mid-November because the dried vegetation is so thick and deep. No homes are threatened.
  Four years ago, heavy fog and smoke were blamed for another serious crash.
  In January 2008, four people were killed and 38 injured in a series of similar crashes on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa, about 125 miles south of Sunday’s crash. More than 70 vehicles were involved in those crashes, including one pileup that involved 40 vehicles.
  Shane Smith, Personal Injury Attorney, offers his condolences to the families involved in this tragic accident.
  

• DUI bill calls for clean record after 5 years
  Jan 30, 2012

  ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
  One state lawmaker from Georgia has proposed that people convicted of driving under the influence have a chance to wipe their record clean. 
  State Representative Culver "Rusty" Kidd, (I-Milledgeville) said Thursday not all DUI cases are the result of habitual behavior.
  Representative Kidd said the current Georgia law doesn't take into consideration the circumstances surrounding each DUI arrest. 
  But officials with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers said this is not the time to soften DUI laws, given the tragedies they've witnessed.
  "I don't condone it a bit and if they break the law, they need to be punished," Rep. Kidd.
  Kidd said it's time to revisit state laws where DUIs are concerned.  Kidd says current laws punish people who've made one mistake for life - and that's why he filled House bill 799
  "Years ago, judges had the leeway to look at every individual case.  Now legislators pass laws not giving judges leeway," said Kidd.
  Georgia M.A.D.D Executive Director Barry Martin points to Wednesday's fatality where an Atlanta police officer was killed by an accused drunk driver as a good reason to leave state laws as they are.
  "A drunk driver will drive up to 85 times before they are caught.  So what this bill says is we will leave it up to the offender not to get caught for five years.  They're not doing anything to verify that they aren't driving drunk.  They're just saying don't get caught," said Martin
  Representative Alisha Morgan (D-Austell) understands M.A.D.D's concerns but says every DUI isn't the same.
  "It's a heart wrenching situation and we have to sympathize with families but at the same time when a individual has made a bad decision on one particular day, I don't think we want to criminalize them from the rest of their lives," said Rep. Morgan.
  At the same time Morgan says there are certain DUIs that shouldn't apply.
  "Individuals that continue to drive under the influence continue to put people in danger.  Those are the type of people that we aren't trying to help or restore," said Morgan.
  

• Passengers mum about fatal wreck that killed officer
  Jan 27, 2012

  By Richard Elliot

  LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. —

  The family of the Atlanta police officer killed in the line of duty is busy dealing with their loss and with planning the officer's funeral, according to the department. The department's Chaplain's Officer is assisting.
  
  Senior Police Officer Gail Thomas died when she was struck by a car along Interstate 75 late Tuesday night as she worked a traffic accident scene. Police charged Chasity Jones, 22, with vehicular homicide, DUI and failure to yield.
  
  Channel 2 Action News obtained a list of names and addresses of the three other passengers in Jones' car and attempted to contact them to find out more about the crash and the events leading up to it.
  
  No one answered the doors at Stephen Pearson's Gwinnett County homeor at Fred Jones' East Cobb County home.
  
  Police listed Katherine Gilliam as the backseat passenger. A friend said she was at her Lawrenceville home, but declined to answer the door.
  
  "She says she doesn't want to talk because she's very traumatized by this whole situation," said Courtney Brooks. Brooks claimed to be friends with all three passengers and said all three are devastated by the fatal accident.
  
  "I know all three of them that was in the car," said Brooks. "They were all badly injured. They all have visions in their heads that will never go away anymore."
  
  Police said Thomas had stopped to assist another officer at the accident scene late Tuesday night. According to investigators, she was exiting her cruiser when Jones hit her. Thomas died at the scene.
  
  Brooks said passenger Gilliam suffered cuts and scratches in the crash and is having trouble dealing with the tragedy.
  
  "She didn't want to watch the news because of the whole fact of she didn't want to see the face of the officer," said Brooks before she entered Gilliam's home.
  
  Jones remains in the Fulton County Jail without bond.
  

• Four motorists killed in holiday weekend wrecks
  Dec 31, 2011

  
  

   

  By Marcus K. Garner and Mike Morris

  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

  Two motorists who died in separate Cobb County traffic accidents Sunday night were among four people killed across the state during the Christmas holiday weekend.
  

   

  The Georgia State Patrol reported an additional 169 injuries in 280 wrecks handled by troopers statewide during the 78-hour counting period that ended at midnight Monday.
  Eric Lynch, 18, of Mableton, was killed late Christmas night on Pisgah Road, according to Cobb police reports.
  Lynch's blue 1993 Honda Civic was speeding down Pisgah when he lost control of the car on wet pavement and hit a utility pole on the shoulder of the roadway, Cobb County police spokesman Mike Bowman said in a statement.
  Lynch wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle, police say. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he later died.
  Early Monday morning, David W. Jones, of Powder Springs, was killed as he traveled along Oglesby Road near Five Oaks Place in Mableton.
  Jones, 27, was driving east on Oglesby when his 2001 Ford F-150 ran off the road and hit several trees, police said.
  He was not wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead on the scene.
  Bowman said alcohol use is being considered a factor in the accident.
  Police continue to investigate both incidents and ask that anyone with information that might help investigators call 770-499-3987.
  It is always tragic when a loved one is lost in an automobile accident. The Law Offices of Shane Smith would like to offer our condolences to the families involved.
  

• Loved ones reflect on year after trooper’s death
  Dec 28, 2011

  MARIETTA – One year ago today, Trooper First Class Chadwick “Chad” LeCroy set off for his shift as a Georgia State Trooper, but he didn’t come back.
  
  About 11 p.m. on Dec. 27, 2010, the 38-year-old trooper attempted to pull over Gregory Favors, of Atlanta, on Bolton Road near South Cobb Drive, just inside Interstate 285 in northwest Atlanta. Favors, 31, reportedly fled the scene, leading LeCroy on a short car chase about a mile south before crashing his 2007 Mazda on Hightower Road and St. Paul Avenue. Authorities believe he opened fire on LeCroy, hitting him once in the neck, as LeCroy approached Favors’ car.
  
  After shooting LeCroy, Favors drove off in the state trooper’s patrol car but was apprehended with the help of Cobb Police, one street east, near Gun Club Road and Gun Club Park, where he had ditched the trooper car, authorities say.
  
  LeCroy died in an ambulance on the way to Grady Memorial Hospital, according to the police report. Favors remains in the Fulton County Jail after being charged with felony murder and aggravated assault on Dec. 28, 2010.
  
  LeCroy's widow, Keisha LeCroy, was too upset to talk about the anniversary of her husband’s killing. However, his stepmother, Tonya LeCroy of Marietta, said the death of their loved one has been tough on her family.
  
  “It’s torn up his dad (Bill LeCroy) a lot,” she said. “He was very proud of what Chad had accomplished in such a short time as a trooper.”
  
  LeCroy also left behind two sons, Bret, 22, and Chase, 11; his 21-year-old brother, Jamie LeCroy; two half brothers, Jake LeCroy, 12, and Jack LeCroy, 15; his mother, Donna Houston and stepfather, Stan Houston.
  
  Those who loved LeCroy and even those who never knew him but are appreciative of his dedication to law enforcement, have all done what they can to honor the state trooper.
  
  Tonya LeCroy’s son, Jake, plays baseball in honor of LeCroy on a local recreational team and travel team.
  
  “Every game that Jake played in this year, the jersey with 744 (LeCroy’s badge number) on it was in the dugout,” Tonya LeCroy said. “It was for good luck, their thing to hold onto.”
  
  The family also honored LeCroy at a dedication ceremony in Washington D.C. this past spring.
  
  “His name is on a memorial for lost law enforcement officers there and at a memorial at the Georgia Public Safety Training office in Forsyth,” she said. “There is also a traveling memorial trailer with all the names of the officers who have passed in Georgia, including Chad’s.”
  
  Tonya LeCroy said it makes her feel good to know that her stepson’s service meant so much to so many people.
  
  “It’s like a huge, little family,” she said. “They look after each other and they look after the families, too.”
  
  Sgt. Jeff Shoemaker with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office and John Stewart of Hoschton are circulating an ammo box in honor of LeCroy.
  
  “My wife and I fixed up an ammo box that travels around the state from officer to officer and each officer has 744 minutes to respectfully pass it on to another fellow officer and it will be traveling for 744 days,” Stewart said.
  
  The box, donated by Ruck Sack Military Store in Gainesville, began circulating in October with Shoemaker but the 744 days will not officially begin until today, Stewart said.
  
  “We wanted something to recognize his sacrifice and to show caution to the other men and women to keep a constant reminder of how quickly things can evolve and turn into a bad situation,” Shoemaker said.
  
  Both Stewart and Shoemaker follow the ammo box on the “Trooper 744 Traveling Memorial” page on Facebook.
  
  “It’s a pretty neat little thing,” Shoemaker said. “I’ve had an interesting time following it.”
  
  As a free mason, a fraternity which many law enforcement officers are a part of, Stewart was privileged to make the box.
  
  “I felt like this was something we needed to do to help the family cope and to help his fellow officers to be mindful of his sacrifice and be very careful of every traffic stop,” Stewart said. “There’s no such thing as a routine traffic stop.”
  
  Many officers traveling with the ammo box put their patches in it and keep a journal of its journey. When the box is finished circulating, Stewart said they will present it to Keisha LeCroy and her family.
  
  The state trooper is also being remembered at his former post in Atlanta, Post 48, said Marietta Post 9’s Corp. Ron Calvert, who served alongside LeCroy. His name is on a headstone at the location.
  
  Calvert described LeCroy as a rambunctious, aggressive trooper.
  
  “It’s like every profession. You can teach a person only so much but that person has to have the desire and will and that was what was so special about Chad,” Calvert said. “For a trooper to have been on the road for as few years as he had without past law enforcement experience … he was confident in what he did, good at what he did, knowledgeable. It was a natural calling for him and I’m not sure why he waited so long to start that profession.”
  
  LeCroy joined the force in 2008 and worked with Calvert on the crimes suppression unit out of Atlanta.
  
  “We helped provide more coverage downtown, to help prevent crimes against students. We were a six-man unit and our primary goal was to go downtown around universities, Georgia State and Georgia Tech, and make our presence known and deter crime,” Calvert said.
  
  The night that LeCroy was shot and killed, he was listening to the police radio.
  
  “I knew, as soon as he didn’t answer his radio (something happened),” he said.
  
  By the time Calvert got to the hospital, his friend had already passed away.
  
  “I have lost someone in the line of duty in the past — it was a car crash — but with circumstances like this, when you think the officer is such an outstanding officer, you don’t expect something to happen,” Calvert said.
  
  The case is still ongoing and been anything but quick for the trooper’s mourning family.
  
  “Keisha has been keeping up with his case,” Tonya LeCroy said. “The court dates continue to be postponed. She wanted it to be a speedy trial and that’s not happened.”
  
  Favors has pleaded not guilty in the killing, and at the time of the incident, he was on probation and was well known amongst law enforcement agencies in both Cobb and Fulton counties.
  
  After the killing, state corrections officials reviewed Favors' probation status, but department officials refused to give details of the outcome of that probe. They insisted the information is confidential.
  
  Jail and court records show Favors has an extensive criminal history, including 19 arrests that date back to 1998 when he was 17 years old. Previous charges include theft, possession of cocaine, criminal damage, obstruction of an officer and reckless driving.
  
  The case is being prosecuted by the Fulton County District Attorney’s office led by Paul Howard Jr. Favors’ trial, which will be held before Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua in the Superior Court of Fulton County, is not scheduled until next fall. 
  
   Atlanta personal injury attorney Shane Smith would like to offer his heartfelt condolences to the LeCroy Family.
  
  

• Gwinnett Family Pleads For Hit-and-Run Driver To Come Forward
  Dec 26, 2011

  GWINNETT COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -

  Here today gone tomorrow is a statement Beth Harley now takes to heart as she and her family grieve the loss of her ex-husband 61-year-old Ed Harley.

  "We listened to his voicemail messages last night on our phone. We just can't believe he's gone," said Harley.

  Gwinnett County police said someone struck and killed Ed Harley while he walked along Buford Drive between Satellite Boulevard and South Lee Street at around 2 a.m. Thursday.

  "He didn't sleep well so a lot of times he walked the streets at night," said Harley.

  Investigators recovered a headlight lens from the scene and determined the car involved was a 1999 to 2002 Saab.

  It's either a convertible or hatchback with damage to the driver's side headlight and damage to the driver's door or the driver side rear window may be shattered.

  "If you were drinking, you shouldn't be driving. If it was an accident why didn't you stop?" said Harley.

  Police don't know who the driver is or if alcohol was involved. Beth Harley said she and her children want the person responsible to do the right thing.

  "Certainly did ruin a lot of lives, not just Ed's. It's the people left behind," said Harley.

  Anyone with information about the vehicle and or driver is urged to contact the Gwinnett County Police Accident Investigation Unit hotline at 678-442-5653.

   

  It is always tragic when there are fatalities involved in any pedestrian accident. Atlanta wrongful death attorney Shane Smith would like to offer his heartfelt condolences to the Harley Family.

• 57-Year-Old Woman Killed in Mableton Drowsy Driving Accident
  Nov 29, 2011

  A driver who fell asleep at the wheel has caused a fatal Mableton car accident, killing a Douglasville woman and leaving an infant fighting for its life.

  The accident took place on the evening of Wednesday, November 23. According to the Douglas County Coroner's Office, 23-year-old Theo Roberts of Mableton was traveling westbound on Bankhead Highway at about 5 p.m. Roberts fell asleep just west of Burnt Hickory Road and crashed into a truck before colliding with another car, driven by Ivery I. Mattox Parks.

  57-year-old Parks was killed in the crash, and her passengers, two adults and an 18-month-old infant, were all injured. Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright reported that the adult victims received treatment at Douglas Wellstar, and the child was airlifted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite hospital. Their condition is unknown.

  Roberts, who was also injured in the crash, may face charges as a result of the accident.

• 29-Year-Old Atlanta Man Dies of Gunshot Wound in Car Accident
  Nov 29, 2011

  One man is injured and another died at the scene of an Atlanta car crash after a driver opened fire on their vehicle, Fulton County Police report.

  Police responded to the south Fulton County accident scene around 1 a.m. on November 20. They found Domain Taylor, 29, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in a crashed vehicle in the 5300 block of Old National Highway.

  An uninjured man who had been riding as a passenger in the vehicle gave a statement to police. He said that three men were riding in their vehicle when a man in a mask pulled up behind them. The masked man opened fire on their car, which was parked in the 2200 block of Pleasant Hill Road.

  The men drove away hoping to make it to a hospital, but crashed in the parking lot of a business a short distance from the shooting. The third occupant was shot in the arm, but fled the accident scene before police arrived.

  Taylor died in an ambulance on his way to a local hospital.

  Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Fulton County Police at 404-613-6600.

• Child Dies, Grandmother Injured in DeKalb Pedestrian Accident
  Nov 28, 2011

  A three-year-old girl is dead and her grandmother injured after a DeKalb County pedestrian accident.

  The Atlanta pedestrian accident occurred right before 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, near the intersection of Covington Highway at Paul Edwin Drive. Wendy Thrower was crossing the street with her granddaughter, Kelseyana Thrower. The pair had gone to the grocery store and were returning home to make dinner. Kelseyana was riding on the back of her grandmother’s motorized wheelchair. They were struck by a minivan and a Jeep Cherokee. The drivers could not see the victim, as it was dark and she had no reflectors on her chair. No charges will be filed.

  Three-year-old Kelseyana sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene. Ms. Thrower was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. She is expected to recover.

  The Atlanta pedestrian injury attorneys at the Law offices of Shane Smith would like to offer our condolences to Telisa Thrower, Kelseyana’s mother. It is always difficult to lose a child.

  In 2009, 4,092 Americans died in pedestrian accidents; 93 of the victims were under age five.

• Atlanta Police Officers Experience Two Car Accidents in Same Day
  Nov 28, 2011

  Two police cruisers were involved in separate Atlanta car crashes on Friday, November 18.

  Around 9:00p.m., a police officer struck a water sampling station at the intersection of Constitution and Jonesboro roads. Janet Ward, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Watershed Management, said that the sampling station is used to make sure the water main is clear, and the city’s water service was not affected by the accident.

  The officer was not seriously injured, and the investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.

  The crash was the second police car accident to take place that day. Early Friday morning, a police officer wrecked his cruiser on Joseph E. Boone Boulevard.

  According to Atlanta Police Captain Van Hobbs, the officer’s car veered off the road and struck a utility pole when he swerved to avoid a pit bull puppy that had wandered into the street.

  The officer received treatment for non-life-threatening injuries at Grady Memorial Hospital.