Athens man arrested for DUI crash that injured teen driver

Charles Edward Gresham

By Joe Johnson

An Athens man was arrested Thursday for a DUI collision that seriously injured a teenage driver.

The crash happened Monday night on Barnett Shoals Road near Hancock Lane, where a truck driven by Charles Edward Gresham struck a vehicle being driven by 18-year-old Audrey Lesniak of Hoschton, according to an Athens-Clarke County police incident report.

Officers responded to the scene at about 7:4p.m., at which time they saw rescue workers removing Lesniak from her vehicle through the windshield, according to the report, which indicated that the teen’s ankle was swollen, and she said that “she knew it was broken.”

Items from the bed of Gresham’s truck were strew on the ground from the crash, and among them were bottles of beer, according to the report, and the Athens man had the odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath and seemed to be unsteady on his feet.

Gresham, who was cut and bleeding from broken glass, was arrested after he refused to submit to a roadside sobriety test or provide a blood sample for testing of the presence of alcohol, according to the police report, which noted that when searched he was found to have a small bag of cocaine.

After he initially declined an offer of medical treatment, police said, Gresham was driven by an officer to the hospital for a possibly broken wrist.

The officer indicated in a report that he intended to take out arrest warrants charging the 31-year-old Gresham with driving under the influence of multiple substances, possession of cocaine, failure to maintain lane, driving too fast for conditions, and causing serious injury with a vehicle.

Police said that when officers went Thursday to the man’s Felton Circle residence to arrest him, Gresham’s arm was in a cast.

Details on how the collision occurred and concerning the other driver’s injuries were not immediately available Friday from police, who said that they require a formal request under Georgia’s Open Records Act for them to release the accident report.

Gresham on Friday afternoon continued to be detained at the county jail, as bail was not set for the cocaine charge.