A 60-year-old Gainesville man faces vehicular homicide charges in a two-vehicle collision
on Browns Bridge Road that killed two people Saturday morning.
HALL CO. SHERIFF’S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE:
“The collision occurred just after 11 a.m. on Browns Bridge Road near the intersection of S.
Smith Road. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Accident Investigation Unit (AIU) is
leading the investigation.
According to the preliminary investigation, Rafael Garrido was driving a 2024 Nissan Titan
in the right lane of Browns Bridge Road westbound near Cherry Circle when a 2015 Kia
Optima, driven by 24-year-old Kegan Thomas of Cumming, passed him in the left lane at a
high rate of speed. Mr. Thomas moved to the right lane while Mr. Garrido then got into the
left lane and began to overtake Mr. Thomas’ vehicle.
As Mr. Garrido edged past Mr. Thomas’ vehicle, he attempted to move into the right lane at S. Smith Road. At that time, Mr. Garrido clipped the front of Mr. Thomas’ vehicle, which exited the roadway, struck a utility pole and then rolled. Mr. Thomas’ vehicle came to a stop when it struck a concrete retaining wall.
Both Mr. Thomas and his front-seat passenger, identified as 22-year-old Ariyana Richards
of Cumming, were killed in the collision.
Mr. Garrido was arrested Saturday evening on charges of 1st degree vehicular homicide
(two counts), aggressive driving (two counts), racing and reckless driving. He remains in
the Hall County Jail at this time.”
EARLIER STORY. POSTED SUNDAY: There was still nothing new to report Sunday morning on the wreck on Browns Bridge Road about noon Saturday that closed a section of the busy four-lane at Florence Drive for a couple of hours. And nothing new on the Friday afternoon manhunt in the Hog Mountain Road area that resulted in the capture of three theft suspects.
EARLIER STORY. POSTED SATURDAY: Parts of two heavily traveled Hall County roads were closed for several hours just hours apart Saturday afternoon.
The first was Browns Bridge Road at Florence Drive near the Walmart Neighborhood Market. The sheriff’s office issued a traffic alert about noon because of a two-vehicle accident. As of late Saturday night, no information on what happened had been released by the sheriff’s office. The agency’s Accident Investigation Unit is handling the investigation.
Just a couple of hours later, sheriff’s deputies issued another traffic alert for Sardis Road near Fran Mar Drive because of a downed power pole. No word on what brought the pole down.
