A Helen police car, driven by the town’s police chief, struck a 70-year-old Florida resident who was crossing a street Friday night. It happened about 9:00.
GEORGIA STATE PATROL NARRATIVE:
“The preliminary investigation revealed that the Helen Police Chief (Althea Barrett) was traveling south on State Route 17 (Main St) and was utilizing her emergency lights and siren as she responded as a backup officer for a burglary in progress call.
As she was turning left onto Yonah Road, she collided with a pedestrian. From the video received from an independent witness, it did NOT appear the pedestrian was in the crosswalk at the time of the collision, although he was close to the crosswalk.
A witness stated it appeared the pedestrian was walking from an adjacent parking lot across the road to a restaurant. The scene was marked and photographed, and witness video was collected as part of the investigation…
The pedestrian…was listed in stable condition when the Trooper last checked in just before midnight Friday night.”