Man Dies From Injuries After Jeep Falls Down Embankment

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A 28-year-old Ball Ground resident died from injuries he sustained when a vehicle he was driving fell down a 200-foot embankment overnight Wednesday.

Deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the off-road accident around 2:30 a.m. May 20 in the McGraw Ford Wildlife Management Area, which sits off S.R. 372 near Ball Ground in the northern part of the county.

Lt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said James Padgett, Jr. was driving his Jeep Cherokee on steep trails with two family members ”when it was reported that, at one point, the vehicle stalled on a very steep hill.”

The two passengers got out of the Jeep, and Padgett was able to get the vehicle up and running again. Baker said that while Padgett was trying to build momentum so he could conquer a hill, the Jeep slid sideways and fell down a 200-foot embankment.

Padgett was ejected from the vehicle, and the two family members were not in the Jeep when it went down the embankment, Baker stated.

Padgett was life-flighted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta where he later passed away from his injuries. The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office‘s Traffic Enforcement Unit is investigating the accident.

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