GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A 56-year-old man died Thanksgiving weekend when a suspected drunken driver slammed into him head-on in the Peach Pass lane on Interstate 85 North.
James Taylor was driving northbound in the express lane near Indian Trail Lilburn Road when 38-year-old Sade Robinson drove the wrong way and struck his vehicle around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police.
“The accident was pretty horrific,” Cpl. Angela Carter with Gwinnett County Police told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson.
Robinson was driving southbound in the northbound Peach Pass lane when the collision occurred, according to police. Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene.
When officers arrived, they found Robinson sitting on the ground next to her Jeep.
“She had slurred speech. She wasn’t really answering some of their questions,” Carter said.
Police say Robinson became combative when officers attempted to arrest her and had to be forced into the patrol car. A blood test showed her blood alcohol level was .25, more than three times the legal limit, according to the report.
Robinson faces charges including first-degree homicide by vehicle and driving under the influence.
The deadly crash happened nearly three weeks after a Gwinnett Police Department lieutenant was hit by a suspected drunk driver at the same location on Nov. 10.
Lt. Kinney was parked with blue lights activated on his patrol car while working a traffic construction detail when a car crashed into the back of his vehicle around the exit ramp.
The driver, later identified as Tyrone Letnom, attempted to run away after the crash, according to an arrest warrant. Body camera video captured an officer yelling “hey stop!” as Letnom ran from the scene.
Lt. Kinney was not seriously injured in that crash.
Letnom was charged with DUI, hit and run, obstruction, following too close, failure to obey person directing traffic, no insurance, and suspended registration.
Police say there are alternatives to driving drunk.
“There’s so many other options nowadays, it’s not worth putting people’s lives at risk,” Carter said.
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