Athens man killed in eastside collision

By Joe Johnson

A 50-year-old Athens man was killed Thursday afternoon in a collision with another vehicle that occurred when he ran a red light on Whit Davis Road, Athens-Clarke County police said.

John Michael Hooten of Garnett Drive was driving south toward Whit Davis Elementary School at about 1:20 p.m. when he drove through the red traffic signal and collided with a vehicle driven by a 54-year-old Bogart woman that entered the intersection from Old Lexington Road, police said.

After striking the right-front of the woman’s car, Hooten’s car continued traveling south past the school’s entrance where it left the roadway and struck a tree, according to police.

Hooten was taken by ambulance to Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. The other motorist was transported to the hospital with unspecified injuries.