Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies investigated a two-vehicle crash that occurred on Monday, September 18, 2017, at 10:58 p.m. One of the vehicles involved was a marked Georgia Sheriff’s patrol car which was part of a relief convoy heading to south Florida. The crash occurred on US Hwy 27 and Dundee Rd in Dundee. 28-year-old Nikolai Camarato of Dundee, the driver and lone occupant of the other vehicle, fled the scene but was located nearby. He was arrested for one count DUI (M-1), and one count of failure to give information at a crash (M-2).
The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office patrol car, driven by Deputy Miranda Sheppard, was stopped in the intersection with emergency lights on, blocking traffic for the southbound convoy. After the convoy cleared the intersection, Camarato, who was driving a 2009 tan Hyundai Sonata, entered the intersection going east, and struck the deputy’s car. There were no injuries.
Camarato was transported to the Polk County Jail and his BAC was 0.121 (legal limit is 0.08).
Camarato told deputies that he pulled into a nearby parking lot, and was going to call law enforcement, but then didn’t. He also said that he only had a couple of beers.
