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Donald Brandon Franks

Age : 49

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 08/23/2025

Location : State Route 53/Rome Road near Reeves Station Road

City : Calhoun

County : Gordon

State : Georgia

Agency : Gordon County Sheriff’s Office

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/23/2025, at approximately 2:39 p.m., 49-year-old Donald Brandon Franks of Lookout Mountain was killed when a vehicle being pursued by Gordon County sheriff’s deputies crossed into opposing traffic on State Route 53/Rome Road and crashed head-on into the Honda CR-V Franks was driving. Franks’s wife and child were also in the Honda and suffered severe injuries.

The police encounter began on Interstate 75 southbound near Exit 317. A Gordon County sheriff’s deputy was entering the interstate when a black Mercedes passed the patrol vehicle and nearly struck it. The deputy followed the Mercedes after observing erratic driving and rapid lane changes. The near collision with the deputy’s vehicle and the subsequent erratic driving were the specific circumstances that prompted police intervention.

The deputy followed the Mercedes approximately five miles south to Exit 312 at Fairmount Highway before attempting a traffic stop. The driver accelerated away, and the deputy began pursuing. Additional Gordon County sheriff’s deputies joined as the vehicle traveled east on Fairmount Highway toward the State Route 53 Bypass near Blackwood Road.

Police reported that speeds exceeded 100 mph as the pursuit continued back toward Calhoun. As the Mercedes reached the intersection of the State Route 53 Bypass and State Route 53/Rome Road, its driver failed to negotiate a right turn, crossed the grass median and entered the westbound lanes while traveling eastbound. Deputies did not follow the vehicle into the opposing lanes.

Within seconds, the Mercedes crashed head-on into Franks’s Honda CR-V near Reeves Station Road. The vehicles caught fire following the collision. Deputies and other responding personnel worked to remove the injured people from the burning wreckage and provide medical aid.

Franks died from his injuries at the scene. His wife and child were severely injured and transported by medical helicopter. The pursued driver was also seriously injured and hospitalized.

The Georgia State Patrol investigated the fatal collision. The pursued driver survived and was subsequently charged in connection with the pursuit and Franks’s death. A Gordon County grand jury later returned an indictment including felony murder, three counts of first-degree homicide by vehicle, six counts of serious injury by vehicle and other charges. The case remained on the Gordon County Superior Court calendar in 2026.

OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Gordon County sheriff’s deputy who initiated the attempted traffic stop and the additional deputies who participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/i-75-police-chase-ends-deadly-crash-gordon-county
https://coosavalleynews.com/2025/08/atleast-one-dead-three-others-injured-in-gordon-county-police-chase/
https://www.discoverdade.com/local/dade-county-man-killed-in-gordon-county-in-head-on-collision/
https://www.discoverdade.com/local/lookout-mountain-man-killed-in-gordon-county-collision-services-arranged-at-moore-funeral-home-saturday/
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/driver-deadly-gordon-county-wreck-back-jail
https://coosavalleynews.com/2025/09/calhoun-man-charged-in-fatal-crash-following-high-speed-police-chase-in-gordon-county/
https://www.gordoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2012
https://www.gordoncountyga.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2127