Melissa Mayton
mmayton@dawsonadvertiser.com
A woman is accused of causing two accidents after being questioned for shoplifting at Walmart, according to the Georgia State Patrol and the Dawson County Sheriffs Office.
On Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 6:55 p.m., Jessica Norwood Liboy, 37, of Cumming was traveling south in the right-turn lane of Power Center Drive. She was driving a 2004 Dodge Neon when a 2003 GMC Sonoma driven by Michael Derden, 50, also of Cumming, attempted to turn left at the traffic light at Dawson Forest Road and Power Center Drive. According to GSP spokeswoman Robin Stone, Liboy failed to maintain her lane, and the front of her car struck Derdens left front side. Liboy then fled the scene and headed west onto Dawson Forest Road.
Derden was not injured in the crash.
Before the crash, Liboy and Anthony Sheets had been questioned by Dawson County sheriffs deputies about shoplifting at Walmart, Public Information Officer Maj. Tony Wooten said. Sheets fled from Walmart on foot and was later apprehended by Deputy Jim Morrison. Liboy fled the scene in her Neon.
After the first crash, Morrison caught up with Liboy near the intersection of Power Center Drive and Arbys, where she swerved her car toward Morrison in what he believed was an attempt to him.
Deputies last saw Liboy run a red light at Dawson Forest Road, crossing over Georgia 400. Wooten said deputies followed her path and came across a single-car accident. According to Wooten, Liboys Neon was on fire, and she was trapped inside the car.
Deputies were able to put out the fire with an extinguisher and rescue her from the car. She was transported by EMS to North Fulton Hospital.
Liboy faces charges of aggravated assault and possibly additional traffic-related charges, Wooten said.
Two other accidents also occurred last week.
Two people were ejected from their car in a collision on Ga. 400 Thursday, Sept. 26.
At 3 p.m., Nancy Smith, 48, of Flowery Branch and Arch Morgan, 39 of Lawrenceville, were both ejected from a 1995 Jeep Cherokee driven by Stephanie Johnson, 37, of Flowery Branch. Neither Smith nor Morgan was wearing a seatbelt.
Morgan was life-flighted to Atlanta Medical Center with a chest injury not believed to be life-threatening, patrol spokeswoman Stone said.
According to officers, Johnson was traveling east on Industrial Parkway and pulled out onto Ga. 400 in the southbound lane. When Johnson pulled out, her car collided with a 2011 Ford Expedition driven by Susan Dye, 49, Dawsonville. The two cars rotated counter-clockwise from each other.
According to the report, Davis told officers she was attempting to turn right onto Ga. 400. But officers said evidence indicated she was trying to cross the southbound lane of Ga. 400, not turn right.
Morgan and Smith were both issued seatbelt violations. Johnson was given a citation for failure to yield when entering or crossing a roadway.
Also on Sept. 25, at 4:30 p.m., an unnamed 16-year old lost control of her 1992 Dodge pickup truck, causing a collision on State Route 136.
The 16-year-old, from Dawsonville, was traveling west on 136. According to Stone, she lost control of her pickup truck and collided with Patricia Davis, 51, of Fontana, Calif., who was driving a 2013 Ford Explorer. Davis was taken by EMS to Northeast Georgia Medical Center for a non-life-threatening injury to the upper body.
Drugs and alcohol were not factors in the accident, officers said, and both parties were wearing seatbelts.