Crash involving sheriff’s wife to be reviewed

Tue, 02/02/2010 - 4:48pm
By: John Munford

Sheriff’s Capt. Deborah Hannah was responding to a burglar alarm at her own home the afternoon of Jan. 2 when her sport utility vehicle collided with another car, sheriff’s officials said.

The crash injured both Capt. Hannah, the driver of the car and the driver’s 4-year-old daughter, though their injuries were reportedly not life-threatening. Meanwhile the burglar alarm was later found to have been a false alarm, sheriff’s officials said.

The driver of the other vehicle was identified as Danielle Mask, 29, of Fayetteville, who also had her 4-year-old daughter in a booster seat, officials said.

Mask was taken to Atlanta Medical Center and her daughter was taken to Scottish Rite Children’s Medical Center; Hannah was transported to Piedmont Fayette Hospital.

The crash is being investigated by the Georgia State Patrol, a standard move for any wreck involving a sheriff’s vehicle, officials said.

Sheriff’s officials said that Mask’s vehicle for some reason pulled into the path of Capt. Hannah’s vehicle at the intersection of South Jeff Davis Drive and Helen Sams Parkway, and Capt. Hannah was unable to avoid it.

Sheriff’s officials have said Capt. Hannah was responding to the call with her vehicle’s lights and sirens activated. But Hannah’s supervisor acknowledged today that generally deputies do not respond to burglar alarm calls with lights and sirens unless there is an indication that the burglar is still on the scene or in the area.

Sheriff’s Maj. Bryan Woodie said the question of whether to use lights and sirens responding to a burglar alarm is not addressed in the department’s standard operating procedures.

Woodie said the crash will be reviewed by a five-member accident review board which meets monthly and evaluates whether auto accidents were preventable and whether any policy violations occurred.

That committee hands down a punishment if necessary in each case, Woodie noted. He guessed that because the wreck is being investigated by GSP, the sheriff’s office would wait until that report is done before the accident will be reviewed by the panel.

Normally any appeal of the accident review board’s decision would be heard by the sheriff, but because Capt. Hannah is the wife of Sheriff Wayne Hannah, it’s likely the sheriff will ask someone outside the department to hear such an appeal if one is made, Woodie said.

Capt. Hannah is in charge of youth services for the sheriff’s department, which includes the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) instructors and school resource officers. Her unit is under the patrol division headed by Maj. Woodie.

The sheriff’s department sent out a news release about the crash less than three hours after it occurred, but the release did not mention that Capt. Hannah was responding to a burglar alarm at her own home.

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buckwheat-phd's picture
Submitted by buckwheat-phd on Wed, 02/03/2010 - 9:47pm.

I'd think you people would want to give the lady a break. I mean, my wife can't make it home from the soccer fields without backing into someone. Now if I was the Sheriff then gave her a gun, a set of blue lights and a huge SUV then look out. But now really.

What would YOU moms do if you saw an alarm at your house? You know what you'd do - the same thing she did now wouldn't you? You'd freak out too. When a mom's wrath and natural protection of the family kicks in then ALL bets are off.

If you're one of Fayette's little punk criminals and go around breaking into homes then your chances of success around here are slim. And these dang HOUSE ALARMS - how many thousands of false alarms do we have to put up with for the one that's real? And tripping over their pants drooping to their knees, they hear the sirens and scramble to get away back up to Clayton before the law arrives. And the SO/Police always figure out who it was anyway. With a little bit of stats check, you'll notice this SO's crime-solve record is outstanding. Any of you whiners write Ms. Hannah a thank-you as quickly as you wrote a complaint?

So give the lady a break - if this had turned out to be a real alarm, and she had kept her cool, we would more than likely be looking at a few more gangster burglars in the slammer. So go on boneheads, break into the Sheriff's house and see what happens lol. Just don't whine about a PO'd mom with her hair on fire that comes after your miserable butt at 70 mph with bluelights.

Go get em, Ms Hannah. You've got my support.

[[and no one was seriously hurt - that's important here]]


Submitted by fayettefreedom on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 2:11pm.

I'm hearing rumors that no one has come forward who really heard a siren (which differs from the news reports), was anyone close by when it happened?

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