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Fleeing pickup driver injured in second wreck on Ga. 400 in south Forsyth
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Forsyth County News

SOUTH FORSYTH — A high-speed hit and run wreck that ended Wednesday night in a second crash closed both northbound lanes of Ga. 400 in south Forsyth and reportedly left the driver in critical condition.

According to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, the situation began to unfold about 9:45 p.m. at McFarland Parkway/Exit 12, when an F-450 pickup truck, driven by 32-year-old James Love of Cumming, sped off after striking a vehicle.

The other driver, a 60-year-old Dawsonville man, told deputies Love would reach an estimated speed of 100 mph before erratically slowing to 50 mph while weaving between the two lanes.

Doug Rainwater, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said Love later lost control of the pickup after striking a red Corvette just north of Peachtree Parkway/Exit 13.

The Corvette left the road and crashed into a tree, while the truck went down an embankment, struck a tree and rolled before coming to a rest upside down.

Rainwater said Love was “thrown from the driver’s seat and pinned between the back window and the roof of the truck.”

Forsyth County Fire personnel freed him, after which he was taken to North Fulton Hospital. His condition could not be determined Thursday.

The occupants of the Corvette, a 68-year-old Cumming couple, were not injured, according to authorities.

Both lanes of Ga. 400 north were blocked until about 10:12 p.m., at which time one lane reopened, Rainwater said.

The crashes remain under investigation by the sheriff’s office. As of Thursday afternoon, the exact charges Love would face were pending.

“Reckless driving and impairment appeared to be contributing factors,” Rainwater said.