A Ware County woman died Tuesday when she was thrown from a pickup truck that overturned after a wheel fell off the vehicle on a Waycross street, authorities said.
Patty Johnson, 54, of Millwood, was a passenger along with her sister, Tina Bordine, 46, in a truck driven by Richard Allen Bordine, 37, said Capt. Chris Tatum of the Waycross Police Department.
The Bordines are married and also live in Millwood, Tatum said.
All three were wearing safety belts. Johnson died after being thrown out an open passenger window as the 1996 Toyota Tacoma pickup overturned trapping her beneath the vehicle, he said.
The Bordines weren't injured in the crash at 3:52 p.m. in the 300 block of Lee Avenue near the public library, Tatum said.
Johnson had been sitting in the right front passenger seat closest to the door. Tina Bordine was sitting in the middle of the front seat between her husband, who was driving, and Johnson, Tatum said.
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The whole right front wheel separated from the pickup truck, which had oversized tires, and fell off as the family was traveling south on Lee Avenue, the investigation showed.
"It appears the wheel fell off due to worn mechanical parts. It looks like mechanical failure," Tatum said.
Without the wheel, the pickup tilted over to the right, causing the remaining bare metal wheel assembly to gouge into the pavement. That caused the pickup to overturn, the investigation showed.
Police are following up to determine if any other factors contributed to the wheel assembly failing, but no charges are expected in the case, Tatum said.
