Hwy. 37 wreck claims 21-year-old woman

Published 10:18 pm Thursday, November 1, 2007

MOULTRIE — A Tallahassee, Fla., woman died at Colquitt Regional Medical Center following a two-car accident Wednesday night.

Anne Lindsey Ruppert, 21, of Tallahassee, Fla., was taken to CRMC in critical condition following the accident at the intersection of Highway 37 West and Highway 202. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The Georgia State Patrol (GSP) said Ruppert was driving an Acura RSX on Highway 202. She came to the intersection of Highway 37 West and entered the intersection, disregarding a posted stop sign.

When the Acura entered the intersection, the GSP said, a Ford Windstar van, driven by Pablo Garcia, 19, of 589 Circle Road, Lot 26, was also going through the intersection. The van hit the Acura in the driver’s side with its front end.

The impact from the accident caused the Acura to overturn and come to rest in a ditch off of the road, the GSP said. Ruppert was trapped inside the car and had to be extricated before she was taken to Colquitt Regional. Garcia and three passengers in the Windstar, including a 15-year-old girl, were also taken to the hospital with injuries.

The GSP said Garcia was placed under arrest and charged with driving without a license following his release from Colquitt Regional.

A hospital spokesperson said Ophelia Lorenzo, 40, was treated and released from the hospital but another passenger, Bel Ponoe, 38, was not shown as being admitted.

Ruppert was the seventh person killed on Colquitt County roads in 2007 and the second person killed in an accident in October. Marcela Lopez Gomez, 27, of Moultrie, was killed Oct. 17 in an accident at the Highway 133 and Regency Village Drive intersection.

Email newsletter signup