Fired Hall County deputy charged in crash that killed 84-year-old man

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — A Hall County sheriff’s deputy who was fired earlier this week for being involved in a fatal crash has now been charged.

Aaron Matthew Buchanan, 31, was off-duty but speeding in his marked 2017 Ford Taurus Thursday morning on Georgia Highway 53 in Gainesville, Georgia State Patrol confirmed.

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GSP says that a 2006 Lexus LS430 being driven by Jon William Jones, 84, was stopped at a stop sign on Nix Drive at Hwy. 53.

When Jones pulled forward, the deputy’s speeding car crashed into the side of Jones’ vehicle on the driver’s side.

Jon Jones’ injuries were fatal. His wife, 81-year-old Doris Jones, was also injured and is being treated. Her condition is not known.

Buchanan was also injured in the crash, but has since been treated and released.

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Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch said Buchanan “failed to follow his training and our agency’s long-standing policies and procedures and neglected to obey state law.”

“This type of reckless behavior will not be tolerated by anyone,” the sheriff continued.

Buchanan has worked for the Hall County Sheriff’s Office since September 2016, but has only been a patrol deputy since January 2021.

He is being charged with vehicular homicide, serious injury by vehicle, speeding and reckless driving.

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The Hall County Sheriff’s Office says he has not yet been booked in the Hall County Jail.

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