>> FATAL ACCIDENT
An Eatonton man who worked in Milledgeville was killed after he was hit by a vehicle while crossing the road in Milledgeville, according to authorities.
Gerald Allen Burge, 55, of Eatonton, died from his injuries at the hospital, said Sgt. Thomas Smith of Milledgeville Police Department.
Burge was walking on the west side of North Columbia Street shortly before 10 p.m. July 8 when he started crossing the road.
“He was walking on the side of the road where the Pickle Barrel Café and Dunkin Donuts are and then he started crossing the road and that’s when he was hit,” Smith explained, noting that Burge was not walking across the street in a designated crosswalk.
Smith said he later learned that Burge worked at the La Quinta Inn on the same block of North Columbia Street as the accident, and surmised that he may have been walking to the motel.
Smith watched video surveillance footage from nearby businesses and said the victim was struck by a 2013 Nissan Pathfinder driven by a Milledgeville woman. The force of the collision thrust the victim forward approximately 65 feet.
“I did some speed estimates while watching the video and the driver was well within the speed limit right there, so speed was not a factor and no charges will be filed,” Smith said.
The northbound lane of North Columbia Street was closed to traffic while authorities worked the crash. Burge was treated for serious injuries at the scene by emergency personnel and taken by ambulance to Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin Hospital. He died in the emergency department, Smith said.
Burge was born in Michigan but had lived in Eatonton the past 12 years, according to his obituary at Williams Funeral Home.