Two years before the head-on impact of a deadly crash last Friday night, Benjamin Harris Rollins had been charged with DUI and lost his license.
So when a witness helped pull Rollins from his 2007 Toyota Camry, which he’d been driving home from Moon Shadow Tavern in Tucker, he had something to mention.
“I don’t have a license,” he said, according to arrest warrants.
Then: “I can’t stay.”
He fled Lavista Road on foot, police said. Left at the scene were Edward Freeland Harris, who died in the other car, and Leigh Harris, who was badly injured.
Also, a woman identified in the warrants as Rollins’ ex-girlfriend remained, in his car.
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By the time police found Rollins later that night, he was injured and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment. He also allegedly smelled of alcohol and admitted he’d been drinking.
Police researched further and saw that his license was still suspended from the previous pending DUI case.
He was booked in the county jail the next day on charges including vehicular homicide, DUI, driving with a suspended license and hit-and-run.
Efforts to reach family of the Harrises, both 52, weren’t immediately successful.
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