A wrong-way driver is in custody after a series of accidents Tuesday that involved eight vehicles, spanned two counties and seriously injured one person, police said.
The incident, which covered about 11 miles, began about 7:40 a.m. when a man driving a U-Haul truck entered the eastbound lanes of I-285 at Flat Shoals Road and traveled west, DeKalb County police spokesman Maj. Stephen Fore said.
The driver has been identified as Aaron Yarbrough, 26, Clayton County police spokeswoman Sgt. Ashanti Marbury said.
After two accidents in DeKalb that resulted in minor injuries, Yarbrough continued to Clayton County, struck a car head-on as he tried to exit via the on-ramp at Riverdale Road and seriously injured the car’s driver, Marbury said.
Yarbrough got out of the truck and tried to run from the scene, she said. But interim Fairburn police Chief Vernal Sutherland, who was on his way to work in an unmarked car, saw the head-on collision and the aftermath, then assisted in Yarbrough’s capture, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“It wasn’t like he was all-out sprinting away from me,” Sutherland told Channel 2. “When he turned around, he just basically told me that he’s not going to jail, and I’m going to have to put the Taser down.”
Yarbrough is charged with hit-and-run, obstruction of an officer, reckless driving and driving on the wrong side of the road, Marbury said.
The injured driver was taken to a local hospital. He is expected to recover.
At one point, three of the interstate’s five lanes were blocked, and eastbound drivers on I-285 were advised to use alternate routes.
