A man is recovering after being run over by an alleged drunken driver who hit him and three vehicles in a Ponce de Leon Avenue parking lot earlier this month.
The victim, Jeffrey Whitmire, and several other people told Atlanta police that a man was drunk inside a restaurant at 736 Ponce de Leon Avenue asking for someone to call an ambulance before going outside and getting in his car Jan. 7, according to an incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Witnesses said they tried to stop the driver because he appeared to be too inebriated to drive.
Surveillance video posted to YouTube shows the driver in a dark gray Jeep Grand Cherokee backing into a parked pickup truck before pulling forward and hitting a white SUV.
Whitmire, who drove the white SUV, ran toward the erratic driver with his arms raised and yelled at him, Whitmire wrote on his GoFundMe page. Both paused for a moment after the SUV was struck. Then, the driver quickly drove toward Whitmire and ran over him.
Whitmire’s body was completely under the vehicle right next to its left-side tires.
The driver stopped, as there was nowhere to turn, which allowed just enough time for Whitmire to roll out from behind the vehicle before the driver started to reverse. Whitmire wrote on GoFundMe that “adrenaline allowed me to roll out the way.”
Whitmire had injuries to his left shoulder, right knee and a hematoma to the back of the head and was taken to the hospital, according to the police incident report.
The driver then struck a third vehicle twice before eventually exiting the parking lot over what appeared to be large stairs.
The driver, identified as Payton Wells, was later charged with hit-and-run, Atlanta police said in a statement Tuesday. The case is still being investigated by the aggravated assault unit, and additional charges may be filed after consideration by investigators and the district attorney’s office.
About the Author
