Wreck nearly knocks truck off bridge

Published 9:05 pm Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A FORD F-350 PICKUP truck driven by Elton Joel Wells of Bainbridge came \ rest suspended over the side of a bridge on the U.S. 27/84 bypass after a multi-vehicle accident occurring just after noon Tuesday.|Joey Cowart

No one was seriously injured in a Tuesday multi-vehicle accident that left a pickup truck partially hanging off the side of a bridge on the U.S. 27/84 bypass.

The accident happened at about 12:10 p.m. Tuesday in the westbound lanes of the bypass, on top of the bridge that crosses the Flint River. In the aftermath of the accident, a Ford F350 dually pickup driven by Elton Joel Wells, 38, of 154 Dempsey Road, Bainbridge, struck the bridge’s guard rail and came to rest with its front wheels hanging off the side of the bridge, above Hatcher Street.

According to Bainbridge Public Safety, Wells was driving west on the bypass’ outer lane alongside another vehicle traveling in the inner lane. As the two vehicles passed the onramp at the Shotwell Street exit, a Chevrolet Suburban SUV driven by Robert Warner Grazier, 41, of Tallahassee, Fla., failed to yield while entering onto the bypass and collided with Wells’ truck.
According to BPS, Wells’ injuries were only slight. However, the wreck caused some minor traffic detours on Hatcher Street and the bypass until a wrecker could remove the pickup truck off the bridge.

Person of interest sought in arson cases

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The Decatur County Sheriff’s Office is seeking a person of interest they would like to talk to in connection with a series of suspected arsons in the Blackjack community.

The Sheriff’s Office previously offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) in the arsons. Four of the fires that Sheriff’s investigators believe were set intentionally happened on the afternoon of July 20. Another suspicious fire happened July 17.

The Sheriff’s Office has released a sketch of what the person of interest, who was seen in the area of the fires, may look like. He is described as about 6 feet tall, with a slender build. He may also be driving a dark blue, older-model Chevrolet.