By: Austin Eller
(Cleveland)- One person was transported, and several others complained of injuries after a single-vehicle wreck in White County on Wednesday, Nov. 23, involving a vehicle carrying probationers to a work detail.
According to a release from the Georgia State Patrol, the crash happened at about 8:30 a.m. on GA 75 near Myra Branch Road.
A Ford van, owned by the Georgia DNR, was traveling east on the roadway.
The driver of the van, Anthony Cleveland Nelson, age 58, of Blue Ridge, said he was blinded by the sun. Nelson is an employee of the Colwell Probation Detention Center in Blairsville. He reportedly steered to the right after feeling he was traveling across the centerline. The van eventually traveled onto the south shoulder and struck a ditch. Six probationers were in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Five of the van’s occupants complained of injuries. One person, 31-year old Jairus Betts was transported for treatment.
Nelson was driving the probationers to Unicoi State Park as part of a work detail at the time of the accident.
