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WASHINGTON, Georgia (WRDW/WAGT) – A former Wilkes County sheriff was charged with three counts last week after a family of three was hospitalized during a police chase.
Prosecutors told us Monday that former Wilkes County Sheriff’s Deputy William Shawn O’Kelley was charged in Wilkes County on Aug. 5 with serious personal injury by car accident, reckless driving and excessive speed in connection with the January crash.
In February, we reported that O’Kelley had been fired from his position with the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office following the accident in early January. Our I-TEAM found that this deputy has a history of running into problems with other law enforcement agencies — and we found out that he’s running for the top job in local law enforcement.
On January 6, 2024, on the GA-10 Bypass in Washington, Georgia, the lights of the TPS Truck Stop and emergency vehicles are the only sources of light.
911 caller: “We need the police out here and maybe an ambulance. There’s been an accident out here in front of TPS. It looks like a car overturned. It looks like a two-car collision.”
The district’s emergency call center receives numerous emergency calls.
911 caller: “I think we need help out here immediately. There’s a wreck here on the bypass in front of TPS. I can see two cars.”
Several different reports and surveillance videos shed light on an accident that occurred in the dark. Surveillance video from the TPS Truck Stop shows O’Kelley parking in the back of the truck stop.
The car with which he later had an accident was also parked there.
O’Kelley was later seen driving away in his silver, unmarked Dodge Durango.
According to a Georgia State Patrol accident report, O’Kelley was initially driving south on GA-10 when he said he noticed a car traveling in the opposite direction at 90 miles per hour.
O’Kelley crossed the median and began a chase.
Back at the rest area, the family of three gets in their car to leave. At the top of the screen, you can see the first vehicle speeding past as the family turns onto GA-10. O’Kelley follows not far behind.
The video is too dark to see the actual accident.
Send: “All units, be warned. We need you on the way to the northern bypass in front of TPS for a 10-50 rollover.”
The only video we have of the accident comes from the TPS Truck Stop surveillance video. That’s because O’Kelley didn’t have his headlights or siren on – meaning his dash cam was never activated.
According to a report from the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office, O’Kelley was driving 111 miles per hour, more than twice the speed limit on GA-10.
O’Kelley was fired from the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office for violating pursuit policy four days after the accident and two days after the I-TEAM requested his personnel file.
According to Georgia POST, O’Kelley is currently under investigation for an incident that occurred in 2021. At the time, he was with the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office.
O’Kelley is currently running for sheriff there. His slogan is: “Experience counts.”
MORE I-TEAM:
The records show that O’Kelley has worked for at least seven law enforcement agencies since 2001, and was fired from five of them.
He was able to avoid being fired from a sixth job by agreeing to resign.
The I-TEAM sent information requests to all six agencies requesting the release of O’Kelley’s personnel file.
His Morgan County Sheriff’s Office record states that O’Kelley was released while on probation. No reason is given as to why he was on probation. No disciplinary reports are included in his record.
It wasn’t until we received his personnel file from the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office that we discovered there was a stack of matters in Morgan County that they had not included in their records request.
Performance evaluations by Morgan County Sheriff’s Office supervisors stated that O’Kelley lacked adequate knowledge of state and criminal traffic laws.
Emails exchanged with the command staff indicate that O’Kelley was working as a deputy for Morgan County when he conducted a traffic stop in Oconee County. O’Kelley issued the driver a ticket even though he had no authority to do so.
At the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, O’Kelley resigned rather than being fired. For what? That is not in the file. Also, entire pages are redacted – concealing what his time at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office was like.
Send: “911 in Wilkes County.”
But back to that night in Wilkes County: Car parts and tire tracks piece together the story of the accident.
TPS employees: “Hello, I had an accident out here in front of the TPS.”
It’s part of a pattern of poor judgment that continues from agency to agency across Georgia.
The I-TEAM reached out to O’Kelley about the accident and his employment with the sheriff. He told us he could not comment – but said it was an unfortunate situation and he was glad no one was hurt.
According to a GSP accident report, the entire family struck by O’Kelley was taken to Augusta University rather than to Wills Memorial Hospital in Washington.
Georgia POST records show that O’Kelley has not completed any pursuit training since 2017.
We requested the dashcam video from the Georgia State Patrol. They say they cannot release it due to an ongoing criminal investigation.
Our I-TEAM has contacted the family involved in the accident but has not yet received a response.
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