A Douglasville man died after his SUV hit two vehicles and overturned Thursday afternoon on I-20 in Mableton, Cobb County police said. No one else was hurt.
What happened: The crash happened about 4:45 p.m. in the westbound lanes west of Riverside Parkway. Police said 31-year-old Eric Patino was driving a 1997 Ford Explorer in the far-left lane when he quickly moved to the right and crossed the interstate for reasons investigators do not know.
The crash: According to the early police findings, the right rear of Patino’s Ford hit the left front of a 2026 Nissan Frontier traveling in the far-right lane. The impact caused the Ford to spin clockwise and hit the right rear of a 2022 Audi Q7 in the lane next to the far-right lane.
Police said the second impact sent the Ford northeast and off the road. The SUV entered an embankment covered with plants, overturned and threw Patino from the vehicle. The Ford stopped in the woods facing north.
Cobb County medical examiners pronounced Patino dead at the crash site.
The other vehicles: Police identified the Nissan driver as 57-year-old Eric Jensen of Bremen. The Audi driver was 44-year-old Ekta Patel of Villa Rica.
The Audi carried two passengers, 48-year-old Bhaminiben Patel and 61-year-old Kinnaben Patel, both of Villa Rica. Police said the Nissan and Audi drivers stopped their vehicles on the right shoulder.
What is still unknown: Police have not said why Patino left his lane. The findings released by the department are preliminary, meaning investigators have not finished reviewing the crash.
The investigation: The Cobb County Police Department’s Selective Traffic Enforcement Program Unit is investigating. The unit handles traffic enforcement and crash investigations.
Anyone with information about the crash can call the unit at (770) 499-3987. The case number is 26053994.
B.T. Clark is the Publisher of The Georgia Sun and author of Principles Are Like Pants… You Ought to Have Some. Over two decades in journalism, he has served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc., earning multiple awards along the way. His work has appeared in newspapers across the state, including The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal.
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
