A U.S. Postal Service worker was arrested Tuesday after sheriff’s deputies said she backed over a Cherokee County woman with her mail truck and lied about it.
The incident occurred last Wednesday outside a home on Coleman’s Bluff Drive near Woodstock, according to Cherokee County sheriff’s Capt. Jay Baker.
Deputies went to the scene after receiving calls about a woman, identified as 60-year-old Barbara Daniels, lying in the roadway. Daniels was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital with a serious head injury, Baker said in a news release.
The postal worker, 38-year-old Jaynie Underwood of Acworth, told investigators Daniels was standing in the grass near her mailbox as she drove by. When Underwood looked in her mirror, she said Daniels had fallen and was lying face down in the roadway, according to Baker.
Deputies asked Underwood if her mail truck hit Daniels and she told them it did not, authorities said.
Investigators canvassed the neighborhood and found a home with a doorbell camera facing the roadway.
“Upon checking the footage, it was discovered that after placing the mail in Daniels’ mailbox, Underwood continued to the next house,” Baker said. “Daniels can be seen checking her mailbox and then begins walking down the road for her daily walk. Daniels is walking toward the mail truck, which is still next door, when the mail truck starts backing up and strikes Daniels, knocking her to the ground.”
After hitting the woman, authorities said the surveillance video showed Underwood collecting Daniels’ mail and placing it back into her mailbox. She then called her supervisor, who dialed 911.
Underwood was booked into the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center on charges of improper backing, failure to exercise due care and one felony count of making false statements, Baker said. She remains there in lieu of $3,452 bond, records show.
Daniels remained in the hospital Tuesday, authorities said.
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