FAIRBURN, Ga. — Investigators said an ambulance driver who crashed, killing a patient inside, had tried to leave the scene in an Uber.
Police told Channel 2′s Tom Regan that the driver admitted to drinking beer before the crash and smoking pot.
Officers said the patient wasn’t restrained in back and was thrown around when the ambulance flipped over late Friday night in Fairburn.
“It appears the driver lost control, left the roadway and overturned. So it (the ambulance) was fully upside down in a ditch,” said Sgt. Anthony Bazydlo with the Fairburn Police Department.
Officers at the scene made a desperate attempt to save the patient, identified as Wilton Thomason, 66, but he died soon after the crash.
Police said the driver, Kevin McCorvey, 34, and a female paramedic tried to leave the crash site right before police arrived.
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“They called an Uber and were trying to leave the scene in some way,” Bazydlo said.
Police said the driver smelled of alcohol and an open container of beer was found in the ambulance.
“The report indicates he also admitted to smoking marijuana recently,” Bazydlo said.
In addition, police say McCorvey also admitted he had been taking the stimulant Adderall on top of the alcohol and pot.
Umberto Palma lives nearby and told Regan that he recently bought a home from the patient killed in the ambulance crash.
“It’s terrible to see an accident like that,” Palma said.
Regan went to the private ambulance company McCorvey worked for to ask about the deadly crash, but no one answered the door.
Police said what makes the crash so tragic is that it was entirely preventable.
“You’ve got to trust the people are going to get you there safely. And when you have this, it’s just very devastating,” Bazydlo said.
McCorvey faces charges including second-degree vehicular homicide and DUI. The other paramedic was not charged.
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