STATESBORO, GEORGIA - A father was seriously injured and his son was killed Tuesday when a rental trailer they were towing was rear-ended on Interstate 16 by a police officer who specializes in nabbing aggressive drivers and who was en route to Chatham County to take part in a safe-driving campaign, officials said.
Cpl. Robert Balkcom, an assistant commander of the Georgia State Patrol post in Statesboro, said no charges have been filed yet, but they are likely, against Dougherty County Police Officer Jeremiah Fenn, 25, of Albany.
Officer Fenn was headed to Chatham County to take part in Operation Rolling Thunder, a 90-day effort to curb Savannah’s rising traffic fatality rate with the help of scores of officers from around the state.
Officer Fenn was driving eastbound near Metter when he took his eyes off the road for a second to look at the computer mounted in his car and struck a trailer being towed by an SUV traveling in the same direction and in the same lane, Cpl. Balkcom said.
The video camera in Officer Fenn’s car, which could have recorded the accident, was turned off, Cpl. Balkcom said.
The SUV overturned several times, ejecting Milton Wilcox, 33, of Savannah, a passenger who was not wearing a seat belt, police said.
Mr. Wilcox was pronounced dead at the scene. His father, William Wilcox, 57, of Savannah, the driver, was airlifted to Savannah’s Memorial Health University Medical Center with serious injuries, Cpl. Balkcom said.
A two-mile eastbound stretch of the interstate was closed for about six hours while members of the Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team investigated the accident, Cpl. Balkcom said.
Witnesses told authorities that Officer Fenn’s police car was “traveling at a high rate of speed,” an issue that will be addressed by the investigation, Cpl. Balkcom said.
“There will more than likely be charges,” he said.
Officer Fenn is a participant in a statewide program known as Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (H.E.A.T.), a collaborative effort of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and eight local law enforcement agencies to nab aggressive drivers.
2007-06-05
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