Elderly woman hospitalized after stealing car in Athens and causing extensive damage in Oconee County

By Joe Johnson

An 86-year-old Athens woman was recently hospitalized after she stole a car and drove to Oconee County where she caused extensive property damage.

The incident began in the evening of September 21st at the Citgo station on Hawthorne Avenue where the woman drove away with a Chevy Malibu while the owner was pumping gas.

She ended up over six miles away in Oconee County where she drove through two yards on Rockinwood Drive, damaging vehicles and a house.

On one of the properties she crashed into an SUV with the resident inside of it, and a deputy reported that when arriving at the scene he saw the woman crashing into the SUV some more.

When a second deputy arrived they tried to get the woman out of the car but she threw it in reverse and crashed into a retaining wall.

After driving onto the front lawn, the woman was unable to get back out because of an embankment and while trying to drive some more she struck the house several times and caused the stairway to collapse.

One of the deputies was finally able to pin the Malibu with a patrol car, at which time the woman was taken into custody and transported by ambulance to the hospital for evaluation.

Police and sheriff’s reports do not say how the woman got to the Citgo station, which is over five miles from her home in Athens.

They also don’t indicate the extent of property damage at a neighboring residence on Rockinwood Drive, where she reportedly had driven around in circles on the lawn.

The Oconee sheriff’s report states that hospitalizing the woman was in lieu of criminal charges that would have included aggravated assault and auto theft.