Car Hits Back of Ga. Ambulance in Police Chase, 3 Die
A car being pursued by police in Brunswick smashed into the back of an ambulance killing all three in the car. The three ambulance occupants were not seriously hurt.
Nov. 14--Three Brunswick residents allegedly fleeing from Glynn County police died just after 1 a.m. Tuesday when the car they were in struck an ambulance near the intersection of Ga. Spur 25 and Cypress Mill Road.
According to Georgia State Patrol records, Candice Lynn Smith, 29, Coray Lee Lemon, 33, and Cedrick S. Daniels, 33, all of Brunswick, died after the 2007 Toyota Corolla they were in struck the rear of a private ambulance owned by Southside Communities Fire Protection of Savannah in the east-bound lane of Spur 25. None of the three who died was wearing a seat belt, patrol operator Steve Drury said.
Glynn County Deputy Coroner Chris Stewart said Smith, Lemon and Daniels were trapped in the Toyota after the collision and were pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at the scene. Autopsies on all three were scheduled for Tuesday at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime laboratory in Savannah, Stewart said.
The three occupants in the ambulance were not seriously injured.
After reviewing a dash-mounted video of the chase, Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said Tuesday the Toyota was being pursued by police because Smith, the driver, was suspected of being impaired.
The chase began at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday when Glynn County Officer Carl Evans noticed the Toyota stopped at a stop sign on Venture Drive at Perry Lane Road.
Doering said the Toyota fit a description for a vehicle reportedly involved in auto break-ins in the area. The Toyota remained stopped at the intersection for a few minutes, and Evans became suspicious, Doering said.
"He shined a spotlight at the driver's window, and she suddenly lifted her head up and pulled a seat belt over her shoulder, as if she had been asleep behind the wheel," Doering said. "Our officer followed her as she drove up Perry Lane Road and proceeded to the Spur to see if she was under the influence."
Evans turned on his emergency lights once the two cars started heading southeast on the Spur, and the Toyota accelerated -- starting the four-mile chase, Doering said.
"She took off at speeds of 100 mph. There were two other vehicles passed on the roadway," Doering said. "As she approached the intersection of Ga. 303, or Cypress Mill Road, there was an ambulance in the right lane, just accelerating from the stop light, and, for some reason, she ran right into it."
The ambulance, which did not have its emergency lights on, was taking a patient to Focus by the Sea, a psychiatric and substance abuse hospital on St. Simons Island.
The 23-year-old patient from Savannah was driven from the scene by Glynn County ambulance to the Brunswick hospital of Southeast Georgia Health System for "non-incapacitating injuries," according to police.
The driver, Ryan Philip McVey, 30, of Savannah, and a 24-year-old passenger from Rincon were not seriously injured.
The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the collision.
