Patient from Highway 365 wreck still critical

CLARKESVILLE -- A Clarkesville man remains in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta at 7 p.m. Monday with injuries suffered in a Monday afternoon wreck on Highway 365 near Baldwin.

Salvador Mora, 23, was thrown from the 2010 Smart Car he was driving when it collided head-on with a 2001 International rollback truck driven by Jerry Pickett, 67, of Clarkesville, said Cpl. Mike Hopkins of the Georgia State Patrol.

The wreck happened at 2:50 p.m. on Highway 365 southbound just north of Kudzu Hill.

"The rollback is southbound and meets the Smart car, which is northbound in the southbound lane," Hopkins said. Pickett "swerves in an attempt to avoid impact, but is unable to do so."

A third vehicle, a 2007 Toyota Camry driven by 66-year-old Mary Cain of Jefferson, also was southbound and suffered minor damage as a result of the collision.

Neither Cain nor her passenger, 68-year-old Eloise Adams of Kennesaw, was hurt.

Jerry Pickett suffered a hand injury and his passenger, Judy Pickett of Clarkesville, complained of a knee injury, Hopkins said.

A van owned by Windstream was being carried on the rollback truck at the time of the collision.

"The van was damaged," Hopkins said. "The chain broke and it moved forward. That counts as property damage because it was actually being carried."

Charges are pending, Hopkins said.

Firefighters from Cornelia, Baldwin and Habersham County assisted at the scene. Police officers from Cornelia and Baldwin assisted sheriff's deputies with traffic.