Robert Champine, 59, the driver of the vehicle responsible for killing a Walton County Sheriff’s Office deputy in a motorcycle accident over the weekend, has been arrested and is facing several felony charges including DUI, first degree vehicular homicide and felony possession of marijuana.
Darren Hester, 46, and his wife were aboard a motorcycle traveling south on Cleveland Highway on Saturday when a pickup truck, driven by Champine, turned into a gas station parking lot, crashing into the bike, according to Georgia State Patrol. Hester was killed at the scene and his wife was airlifted where she remains in critical condition at Atlanta Medical Center.
This motorcycle fatality brings the number of deaths to five Walton County residents this month.
On Friday, Charlie Allen Moore, 79, was killed in a crash on Highway 11. He was on his way to see his wife at a nursing home in Monroe.
On September 11, Tracy Talley 36, died in an accident in Loganville.
Richard Lynn McKee, 24, was killed in a motorcycle crash on Highway 138 in Newton County on September 12th. And on the same afternoon, Madison Young, 15, was tragically killed in an ATV accident.
Hester was a deputy with the Walton County Sheriff’s office for 26 years.
