Fatal Weekend Wreck Near Ponce de Leon and Durant Place

Thanks to Steve Gower, a local resident and Midtown Patch reader, we have learned about a busy Saturday night in the neighborhood, in which a tree was struck by lightening leaving power out for many and in a separate case, a man was killed in a fatal car wreck.

According to Gower, "lightning struck a tree on Argonne, and caused a huge branch to fall onto the utility line. It left the transformer hanging by a flimsy screw."  This happened on Argonne, just south of 4th street and left many in the neighborhood without power for hours as crews worked overnight to remove the tree and repair the damaged line.

Unfortunately the Midtown night turned deadly, not long after the lightening strike.  APD and Gower both reported to Patch that a driver crashed into, "a low-rise cement wall near the property of the transitional center, at Durant Place and Ponce de Leon and was killed instantly."

Sgt Lyon informed Midtown Patch that, "at 0015hrs the Accident Investigations Unit was requested for an accident with a death at 332 Ponce De Leon.  This was a single car accident with only one occupant."

Lyon says that. "the vehicle was traveling west on Ponce De Leon Ave when it lost control while negotiating a curve.  The vehicle left the roadway and struck a fire hydrant, rock wall, and concrete wall."

According to witness reports, the car flipped onto its side and needed a wrecker to come and turn it back over, "so they could extract the body from inside the vehicle."

Steve Gower told Midtown Patch, and  and Sgt. Lyon confirmed that, "the car was dented deeply into the driver side, and literally cut the driver in half. The lower half ended up in the passenger side, and the upper half of the body was flung into the back seat."

Gower, who was at the scene said, "the destroyed wall was literally painted over with blood, as I could see whenever they shined flashlights on it. Whenever they shined the light inside the back window of the vehicle, I could see that upper half of the body. I could see that it was a black male that the car had a Fulton County tag. I was told that he was 28 years old."

Midtown Patch was unable to confirm the age and race of the victim.  The Medical Examiner nor the Atlanta Police Department has released the official report.  Sgt. Lyon says that the investigation into the cause of the accident continues.

Steve Gower was able to take photos from the scene.  NOTE: Beware that one of the photos taken from the morning after the crash, still show traces of the victim's blood.  
Midtown Patch will attempt to follow up on this story when more becomes available.