A Hall County sheriff’s deputy has been fired after allegedly causing a fatal crash in Gainesville, authorities said.
Aaron Buchanan, 31, was off duty and driving in his marked patrol vehicle at the time of the collision, according to a sheriff’s office news release. The crash, which killed one person and injured another, occurred at about 10:30 a.m. Thursday on Dawsonville Highway at Nix Drive.
Buchanan was traveling south on Dawsonville Highway at a high speed, law enforcement officials said. A Lexus sedan driven by Jon William Jones, 84, was traveling east on Nix Drive and had stopped at the stop sign.
The sedan began traveling into the path of the oncoming deputy’s vehicle. The front of the patrol vehicle struck the driver’s side of the Lexus. Jones was killed in the crash, and his wife, Doris Claudine Jones, 81, was injured and taken to a hospital. No further details on her injuries were available.
Buchanan was treated for his injuries and released.
Buchanan was charged with speeding, reckless driving, serious injury by vehicle and vehicular homicide.
“This deputy failed to follow his training and our agency’s long-standing policies and procedures and neglected to obey state law,” Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said in the release.
Buchanan had worked for the sheriff’s office since September 2016.
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