July 8, 2011 - Atlanta, Ga. - Spalding County Sheriff Dee Stewart was pronounced dead in an Atlanta hospital on Sunday, 2 weeks after he was injured in a car accident in Griffin. According to a report at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Stewart was hit by a car driven by his grandson on June 23.
Stewart was seriously injured in the accident and suffered major head injuries. He'd been hospitalized in critical condition since the accident until Sunday, when he was pronounced dead shortly after 4 a.m.
Investigators say the victim was on-duty at the time of the accident. He was driving a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck on Moose Lodge Road when his vehicle was struck by a Ford Explorer near the entrance to Highway 19/41. In a sad twist of fate, it was Stewart's grandson, Chad Gasaway, who was behind the wheel. Gasaway is a deputy in the sheriff's department and suffered minor injuries in the accident. He wasn't on duty.
A funeral for Sheriff Stewart was held on Thursday in Griffin. He devoted 40 years of his life to public service, first in the Griffin Police Department and later as sheriff of Spalding County.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2009 Georgia Crash Statistics, there were 1,284 fatalities as a result of car accidents in Georgia.
As a service to the residents of Atlanta, our firm will frequently publish blogs about local traffic accidents. We do this to raise awareness about the common types of motor vehicle accidents that occur in Georgia that may result in serious injury or traffic fatalities.
Common accidents include, but are not limited to:
- single-car accidents;
- accidents caused by hazardous road conditions; and
- accidents caused by aggressive driving or distracted drivers.
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