A Georgia ambulance driver admitted to smoking marijuana, taking Adderall and drinking beer before a rollover crash last week in which an unrestrained patient died, authorities said.
The man, Kevin T. McCorvey, 34, was transporting Wilton Thomason Jr., 66, in Fairburn shortly before 7:30 p.m. Friday, according to a report from the Georgia State Patrol. McCorvey is accused of failing to maintain his lane and traveling off the shoulder, causing the ambulance to overturn in a ditch, the state patrol said.
Thomason, of nearby Atlanta, was unrestrained and “suffered fatal injuries,” the report said. McCorvey, of Fairburn, was charged with DUI, first-degree homicide by vehicle, failure to maintain a lane and possession of an open container, the state patrol said.
An incident report from the Fairburn Police Department, which initially responded, said the state patrol was called to the scene and conducted a field-sobriety test, which McCorvey failed.
“He also admitted to smoking marijuana, taking Adderall and drinking beer while driving the ambulance,” Fairburn police said in the report.
Fairburn police said that when an officer arrived, witnesses provided a ladder to try to climb through the ambulance’s rear door to open it.
The officer made contact with McCorvey and a second employee who worked in the ambulance, who said that they were OK but that they had a dialysis patient with them.
The Fairburn officer broke the glass of the ambulance's back door. McCorvey got out of the vehicle through a window, while the second ambulance worker was helped out by the officer, the report said.
The officer then saw McCorvey performing chest compressions on Thomason, according to the report.
“McCorvey stated that Thomason was having a cardiac arrest,” Fairburn police said.
Thomason was pronounced dead by another first responder, according to the incident report.
McCorvey and the second ambulance worker tried to leave the scene in an Uber vehicle, Fairburn police said. They were stopped, police said, and when the officer spoke to McCorvey, an alcoholic odor emanated from his breath.
Fulton County Superior Court records said McCorvey appeared in court Monday. The records said the “court found probable cause to detain the defendant.” The court also determined that McCorvey was to be held without bond because of the “nature of the charges” and the “danger to the community,” the court record said.
A lawyer listed as representing McCorvey could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. Thomason's relatives were also not reached.