By Nancy Badertscher
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NELSON, Ga. — The 32-year-old police chief of Nelson was killed Monday in a three-vehicle wreck being blamed on icy weather.
At least four others were injured in the wreck that killed Clay Adams, the police chief and only full-time officer in the town of about 1,000 people that straddles Cherokee and Pickens counties.
Adams and a female passenger were traveling northbound on Ga. 515 in Blue Ridge, in Fannin County, about 12:30 p.m. when the accident occurred, said Fannin County Coroner Becky Callihan.
The driver of a second vehicle, trying to enter the roadway, lost control on a sheet of ice and stuck Adams’ 2007 Chevy pick-up and another vehicle, the coroner said. Adams was ejected from the truck and had head, chest and leg injuries, Callihan said. A medical helicopter was to take Adams to a hospital in Atlanta but diverted to a closer facility when he went into cardiac arrest, she said.
Adams was pronounced dead at 1:51 p.m., the coroner said.
She said he was able to talk at the scene. “That’s how we knew he was the police chief,” Callihan said.
The other injured, including Adams’ passenger, were taken to area hospitals and were believed to be in critical but stable condition late Monday, the coroner said.
Bill Walker, mayor of Nelson, described Adams as an “excellent officer who put the city above anything else.” Walker said Adams had worked for the city for a little more than a year and had one part-time officer under his command.
“We’re all very shook up,” he said. “It was so sudden.”
Copyright 2008 Atlanta Journal-Constitution