911 calls released after wrong-way crash that injured trooper

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The 911 calls have been released from the crash where a wrong-way driver is accused of hitting a Georgia State Patrol trooper.

That crash happened around 11 p.m. Friday.

“I’m on Riverwatch Parkway headed toward downtown Augusta, and I saw a car that was going the wrong direction just a couple minutes ago headed toward I-20 on the wrong side of the highway going quite fast,” said a caller.

LISTEN:

A 24-year-old was identified on Tuesday as the other driver involved in the wrong-way crash on Riverwatch Parkway that injured a Georgia State Patrol trooper.

William Hawkins, 24, of Augusta, was confirmed to be the driver of the Toyota 4Runner involved in the crash on Friday night, according to GSP information officer, Joshua.

“It’s a Georgia State Patrol and a civilian car,” said the caller.

Callers said they smelled a lot of smoke.

“Police, fire, or ambulance?’ asked the dispatcher.

“Both, there’s a Georgia State Patrol on Riverwatch Parkway on this road like heading towards downtown, bad wreck,” said a caller.

According to the crash report from Georgia State Patrol, Hawkins was traveling westbound on the eastbound lane while attempting a left curve. The trooper was traveling eastbound in the right lane while attempting a right curve.

This is when Hawkins hit the front of the trooper’s vehicle, the report states.

Both came to an uncontrolled rest near the area.

The results of Hawkin’s alcohol test were still pending as of Wednesday. Hawkins’s condition is unknown as of Wednesday afternoon, officials say.

The trooper, identified as 32-year-old Trooper First Class 1 Zachary Walker, is stable and has a “long road to recovery.”

According to GSP, at 11:09 p.m. Walker was driving traveling east on Riverwatch Parkway near mile marker 3.5 when he was hit head-on by a Toyota 4Runner that was traveling in the wrong direction.

The report says the trooper’s odometer was unable to be read due to heavy damage.

Witnesses described what it was like to see the driver going the wrong way.

It was too close of a call for some.

“I play the thing over and over in my head every day. Because it’s like we could have been gone,” said Cheryl Hall.

One minute she was driving down Riverwatch Parkway, and then the next she says headlights were in front of her coming from the wrong way.

Just minutes before the accident Mitchell Barton also saw a car driving down Riverwatch going the wrong way.

“I had to do a double take, I looked over and look back again. I was like, Man, that guy is on the wrong side of the road,” said Barton.

Officials say Walker was seriously injured and had to be extracted from the vehicle.

Walker and Hawkins were taken to Wellstar MCG hospital, authorities say.

Walker was a Richmond County deputy before reg in May of 2019, then starting at the Georgia State Patrol that same month and year.

He’s had some recent training about traffic accident management and pursuits, according to records with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.

He is listed as being in good standing with no sanctions or investigations.

A recent post by the Georgia Department of Public Safety noted that he is set for promotion to corporal.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.