A 7-month-old boy suffered neck and spine injuries in a head-on crash involving a distracted driver, Atlanta police said.
Nolan Bennett’s mother was driving when he suffered the injuries in the May 18 crash in southwest Atlanta, according to authorities.
The crash happened about 7:40 a.m. on Lynhurst Drive, police said.
The driver at fault, Thomas Fisher of Atlanta, was westbound and told police he was “lost” and “looked down at his cellphone GPS to see where he was going,” according to the police report.
The driver of the other car, Ceann Copeland, said she was eastbound on Lynhurst and saw Fisher’s car “in her lane and traveling at a high rate of speed,” police said. She couldn’t react quickly enough to avoid the crash.
When he looked up, Fisher tried to “swerve out of the way,” police said, but “he was unable to move his vehicle quick enough” and hit Copeland’s car.
Copeland told Channel 2 Action News she had dropped off her 6-year-old son at West Manor Elementary School just before the crash happened.
"My first instinct when I opened my eyes was my baby," Copeland said. "I jumped in the back and my baby was bleeding."
When police searched Fisher’s car, they found a marijuana grinder with marijuana residue inside, according to the report.
Fisher was charged with possession of an ounce of marijuana, failure to drive on the right side of the road and due care (cellphone), police said.
Copeland was cited for having an expired tag.
Nolan Bennett has had multiple surgeries, according to his mother.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
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