October 21, 2024
GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A north Georgia deputy fired after his involvement in a deadly crash is now being charged with vehicular homicide.
The former deputy, Aaron Buchanan, was charged with speeding, reckless driving, serious injury by vehicle and vehicular homicide, The Times of Gainesville reported.
Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch told the newspaper that he fired Buchanan for violating sheriff’s office policies and state law in connection with the Thursday crash in Gainesville.
Jon William Jones, 84, was killed, Hall County Deputy Coroner Kevin Wetzel said. Another person was injured, according to the sheriff’s office.
Buchanan, 31, was off-duty and driving his patrol car south on Dawsonville Highway “at a high rate of speed," according to the Georgia State Patrol. The exact speed was still under investigation, Cpl. J.G. Tucker said.
Jones had stopped at a stop sign, and was struck by the deputy's car shortly after pulling onto the highway, the state patrol said.
“This deputy failed to follow his training and our agency’s long-standing policies and procedures and neglected to obey state law,” the sheriff said in a statement after the wreck. “No one in law enforcement should ever cause the innocent to be harmed and this type of reckless behavior will not be tolerated by anyone.”
Buchanan had worked for the sheriff’s office since September 2016 and had been a patrol deputy since January 2021. It wasn't known early Monday whether Buchanan has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
