Police seek driver of race that injured woman

Union City police were looking Wednesday for the driver of a car that witnesses said was involved in an illegal street race that ended in a wreck on I-85 early Tuesday.

A Fayette County woman was seriously injured in the 6 a.m. crash on I-85 northbound near Ga. 138, Union City police spokesman George Louth said.

Witnesses told police that a black Mitsubishi Eclipse was racing a small white car, possibly a Dodge Neon, when the Eclipse rear-ended a Ford Explorer, flipping the sport utility vehicle onto its roof, Louth said.

“The Explorer then slid across the interstate to the right hand side, hit the guard rail, and slid back across the interstate almost to the median wall, where it was struck by another vehicle that was traveling northbound,” Louth said.

The driver of the white car never stopped, he said.

The Explorer driver, Linda Wigglesworth, 61, was taken to Atlanta Medical Center. She was in stable condition Wednesday morning, Louth said.

He said that the driver and passenger in the Eclipse fled on foot after the wreck, but turned themselves in at Union City police headquarters about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The passenger was later released, but the driver, Alvaro Gallardo, 24, of Palmetto, was charged with racing, reckless driving, hit-and-run, driving without a license and felony serious injury by vehicle.

Gallardo, who Louth said is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was being held Wednesday at the South Fulton Municipal Regional Jail, awaiting transfer to the Fulton County Jail.

Witnesses estimated that the Eclipse and the small white car were both going in excess of 100 mph when the crash occurred, Louth said.

Louth said that despite not having a Georgia driver’s license, Gallardo had been issued a tag for the Mitsubishi by Fulton County in June, even though a law went into effect last year requiring the license for a tag to be issued.

While Cobb, Gwinnett and DeKalb counties have interpreted the law to mean there’s no getting around the need for a Georgia driver’s license, officials in Fulton County have interpreted the law differently, leading to more lenient requirements for obtaining a tag.