Tragedy Avoided

A potential tragedy was avoided over the weekend when a driver, trying to escape local law enforcement, went speeding north on southbound, one-way Tallahassee Street, crashing when he tried to make a left turn onto Latimer Street in downtown Hazlehurst. According to Hazlehurst Police Chief Ken Williams, the man was coming into Hazlehurst on the Douglas Highway, and when he came to the intersection of South Tallahassee Street and Jefferson Street at the Burger King restaurant, he ran over the island in the road, blowing a tire on the vehicle. He proceeded at a high rate of speed for some six blocks and, at the intersection of South Tallahassee and Latimer Street, he tried to make a left turn, lost control of the vehicle, hit a parked vehicle and destroyed fencing, and Christmas lights around the downtown clock tower. The driver tried to escape on foot but a Sheriff’s Deputy who was involved in the chase gave him a verbal command to stop and he did. A passenger in the car did not try to escape. The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the incident.