Deputies collide avoiding DUI driver,

Photo by(NowHabersham.com)

Two Stephens County deputies collided in their patrol vehicles after an alleged DUI driver ran a stop sign and pulled in front of them, the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) says.

The crash occurred on Prather Bridge Road around 7:10 p.m. on March 21. A trooper from GSP Post 7 in Toccoa investigated the crash.

According to the preliminary GSP report, Stephens County Sheriff's Deputy Cody Bearden, 28, was following another patrol vehicle driven by Deputy Sammy Feaster, 50, when the Honda Accord ran a stop sign and failed to yield.

"The deputies swerved in opposite directions to avoid the vehicle and collided with each other as they tried to return to their lane," the GSP report states.

Bearden was driving a 2017 Dodge Charger and Feaster, a 2020 Ford Explorer.

Authorities identified the Accord driver as Romunzo Brown, 42, of Stephens County. They arrested and charged him with DUI and multiple other traffic offenses.

No one was injured in the wreck.