70-year-old man hit and killed by garbage truck during walk, Georgia police say
A Georgia garbage truck driver accused of hitting and killing a man as he walked along a busy Atlanta roadway is behind bars, authorities say.
Christopher Gunn of Douglasville was arrested and charged Tuesday, Feb. 15, in connection to a fatal pedestrian crash that occurred in the 2200 block of Campbellton Road on Monday, Feb. 14, Atlanta police said in a news release.
Gunn faces charges of second-degree vehicular homicide and failure to yield while entering a roadway.
Officers arrived to the scene around 11 a.m. to find a man, identified as 70-year-old Jerry Hood, hit, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing police. He “was not alert, not conscious or breathing” and died at the scene, police said.
Hood’s daughter Tywonna Whelchel told WAGA-TV that her father was on his way to the store.
“It hurts that he died in the circumstances he did,” Whelchel told the news station. “You keep that in your head. That’s hard for me. That is hard picturing my dad up under a truck.”
Relatives remembered Hood as a funny guy who “always had plenty of jokes,” WAGA reported. Now his family is relieved to learn that charges have been brought against the man accused in his death.
Police said Gunn stayed on scene and spoke with investigators following the crash, according to the release. He was working for a private trash company at the time, the AJC reported, and wasn’t affiliated with the City of Atlanta.
He was booked into the Fulton County Jail where he remained as of Wednesday, Feb. 16, online records show.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 12:46 PM with the headline "70-year-old man hit and killed by garbage truck during walk, Georgia police say."