GSP charges Cleveland man in Thursday wreck

CLEVELAND - A Cleveland man faces charges after his vehicle collided head-on with a spreader truck in Cleveland Thursday afternoon.

The wreck, dispatched at 3:57 p.m., resulted in a section of Highway 129 (South Main Street) being closed for about 90 minutes.

A green Ford Ranger pickup was traveling north on Highway 129 and collided head-on with an International 4400 spreader truck that was stopped in the center turn lane.

The driver of the pickup truck, 34-year-old William Wesley Bladen of Cleveland, was injured and trapped in the wreckage.

After being cut free by Cleveland Fire Department personnel, Bladen was taken by ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, said Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright.

The driver of the spreader truck, 59-year-old Steve Arthur Allen of Cleveland, was not injured, Wright said.

GSP obtained warrants for Bladen, charging him with failure to maintain lane and driving while license suspended or revoked, Wright said.

Highway 129 was closed from Donald E. Thurmond Parkway near Walmart to Old Highway 75 near Community Bank & Trust, with Old Highway 75 serving as a detour. The highway reopened just before 5:30 p.m.

During the time traffic was detoured there also was a minor three-vehicle wreck on Old Highway 75. No one was hurt in that wreck.