HCSO NARRATIVE:
“Four people were injured, including two young children, in a suspected DUI crash Saturday night on Stephens Road in Oakwood.
Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) deputies responded to the scene just before 7:45 p.m. and found two vehicles disabled as the result of the crash.
The initial investigation determined the driver of a Honda Pilot, Jennifer Lee Ramirez, 37, of Oakwood, was traveling northbound on Stephens Road near Raintree Trace when she crossed the centerline of the roadway and drove into the southbound lane of traffic. The driver of a Mazda RX-7, which was traveling southbound, swerved to avoid the crash, but the two vehicles collided in the northbound lanes of the roadway. The two male occupants of the Mazda, ages 16 and 63, were transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
Ramirez’s two children, who were passengers in her vehicle, suffered injuries in the crash, but they were removed from the scene by another party prior to the arrival of law enforcement and EMS. The boys, ages 4 and 6, were later located by deputies with Ramirez’s partner Daniel Wesley Casteel, 36, of Lawrenceville. They were transported to Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta for treatment.
Ramirez was charged with a long list of offenses related to the crash:
- DUI-less safe
- DUI-endangering the life of a child (2 counts)
- Cruelty to children in the second degree (2 counts)
- Violation of child restraint law (2 counts)
- Serious injury by vehicle (2 counts)
- Driving on the wrong side of the road
…
Daniel Casteel was booked into the Hall County Jail early Sunday morning on outstanding arrest warrants. He posted bond later that morning, but he now faces charges of cruelty to children in the second degree (2 counts) for removing the boys from the accident scene…”