HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Dramatic video shows the moments police said a drunk driver plowed over a light pole and crashed into a Gainesville preschool.
Channel 2′s Elizabeth Rawlins was in Hall County Monday, where police said that around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, a 1998 Ford Explorer turned off Thompson Bridge Road onto Sandridge Court, heading east.
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Police identified the driver as 38-year-old Jeremiah Mitchell of Gainesville.
Authorities said when Mitchell failed to stop in time when he turned, he left the roadway, hitting a flagpole and the side of Primrose School.
Mitchell’s vehicle ended up inside a classroom. Thankfully, the school was closed at the time and no one was injured.
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PSG officials told Channel 2 Action News that they were open on Monday for school despite the damage. School owner Jennifer McKnight told Rawlins that the building is still structurally safe.
“We were able to configure some things and make sure we were there for our families,” McKnight said. “There’s a gaping hole in the building and as bad as it is, it could have been much worse.”
Rawlins talked to Rose Morrison, who has a grandchild at the school.
“They said he was doing at least 60 mph coming through,” Morrison said.
Mitchell was charged with driving under the influence.
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