A man is facing minor charges after a medical issue caused him to lose control of his truck which veered off the highway and crashed into a store in Fayette County on Thursday morning.
Fayetteville police and county firefighters were called to Ga. 85 in the area of Fayette Pavilion around 10:15 a.m. regarding a dump truck that wrecked into Golden Days Antique & Decor, police spokeswoman Ann Marie Burdett confirmed.
The driver had already made it out when safety personnel arrived, Burdett said. He was taken to the hospital, but authorities told the news station that he had only minor injuries.
The 62-year-old driver was not arrested but has been charged with operating a commercial vehicle without a license and failure to maintain lane, according to Burdett. The driver was not impaired and investigators determined that a medical issue caused the crash, she said.
The truck veered off the highway, taking out a few bushes and a utility pole, before going across the parking lot and crashing, finally stopping about 10 to 20 feet into the shop, Burdett said.
The store had been closed for a while and no one was inside at the time, but several antiques still lined the aisles. No other injuries were reported.
The crash closed all of the stores in the strip shopping center, Burdett said. It is uncertain when they will reopen.
Fearing the building would collapse or a fire would spark while the truck was being removed, firefighters called in Clayton County’s Trench Rescue Team to help support the structure. Removing the truck took nearly three hours, Burdett said.
A restoration crew remained on the scene late Thursday cleaning up debris. Businesses in the shopping center remained closed Friday, and police did not have further information on the building’s restoration, Burdett said.
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