The Georgia Highway Patrol says no charges will be filed against a Wayne County deputy who struck and killed a pedestrian Thursday night. Officials says it does not appear the deputy was at fault.
Wayne County Sheriff John Carter says the accident occurred about 9:30 p.m. Thursday on U.S. 84 (GA 38) near the Wal-Mart in Jesup and claimed the life of a 42 year old woman.
Carter says the woman was crossing the highway and was hit by one of his deputies who was on his way to a call. The deputy, 29 year old Benjamin Hand, was on medical leave Friday.
The victim is identified as 42 year old Elizabeth Rose Brennan. The highway patrol says the woman was walking across four or five lanes of traffic and was not using a crosswalk.
Sheriff Cater says his deputy was in the process of answering a call, but was not using his lights or sirens. "No, he did not have the lights or sirens on at that time," Carter says.
Sheriff Carter says according to preliminary information, the deputy's car was traveling behind a pick-up truck that reportedly swerve to miss the woman. The deputy's car then struck Brennan as she was walking across the highway.
"But the highway patrol is investigating the accident," Carter says. "It appears my deputy took evasive action to avoid hitting the truck and then hit the woman. However, we need to leave it up to the highway patrol to determine officially what happened.
Carter says the victim was transported to Wayne Memorial Hospital in Jesup and later pronounced dead. He says Deputy Hand received minor injuries, mostly due to the airbag deploying.
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