Charges Pending In Fatal Garbage Truck Wreck

CARTERSVILLE, GA — The Georgia State Patrol continues to investigate a fatal crash involving a garbage truck that killed a Floyd County inmate Wednesday afternoon in Cartersville.

A state trooper was dispatched to the scene of the accident around 1:30 p.m. Dec. 26 on Church Street near Jones Street. The trooper learned that a city of Cartersville garbage truck, which had two inmates riding on the back side of the vehicle, was backing down Church Street from Jones Street.

"While the driver of the truck was backing (down), he ran off the road to the right, making contact with a utility pole with the right rear of the truck," the Georgia State Patrol said.

When the driver struck the utility pole, the passenger on the right exterior side was pinned between the truck and pole. That man, identified as 43-year-old Lester Robert Baker of Cartersville, was transported to Cartersville Medical Center where he died of his injuries.

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According to the Rome News-Tribune, Baker, an inmate at the Floyd County Prison, volunteered to do sanitation detail in Cartersville "to help with the large amount of waste put out the day after Christmas."

Prison warden Mike Long told the newspaper that Baker was transitioning into the facility's work-release program, which helps inmates successfully reenter society. According to state records, Baker was incarcerated at the Floyd County Prison on burglary, theft and credit card fraud charges.

While the accident remains under investigation by the state patrol's Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team, the state agency notes charges are pending.

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