Middle Georgia man pulled from car before it bursts into flames, but he dies of injuries
A 41-year-old Eatonton man died Monday when the car he was driving smashed into a utility pole near Lake Oconee and burst into flames, Putnam County sheriff’s officials said.
The wreck happened shortly before 11 a.m. at the Georgia Highway 44 intersection at Scott Road, less than half a mile south of the Lake Oconee bridge.
The victim, Jerard Jerome, of Eatonton, was driving south on the highway, traveling at a high rate of speed, officials said, when the 2020 Honda Accord he was in ran off the road and slammed into the pole of a recently installed traffic signal.
Onlookers helped pull Jerome from the car before it caught fire but he died of injuries from the crash, sheriff’s officials said.
Other drivers had reported a “reckless driver” in the area moments before the wreck, the officials said.
This story was originally published May 24, 2022 at 12:01 PM.