Jackson County Road & Bridge Department employee James Baughman, 46, was driving a county pickup truck south on State Road 71 and reportedly was on his way back to the department base on nearby Panhandle Road when he veered into the path of another vehicle Tuesday morning and crashed, dying on the scene from his injuries. Baughman, a mechanic who lived in Grand Ridge, had been with the department for about a year. Both R&B Superintendent Al Green and County Administrator
Pam Pichard released statements of condolences.
According to the FHP report, Baughman’s 2000 Ford F-150, which was totaled, was traveling south on 71 and the other vehicle, a 2005 Ford F-250 pulling a trailer, was traveling north. Baughman traveled across the centerline,” FHP said, “entering the northbound travel lane, entering the second vehicle’s path of travel. As a result the front left of (the county vehicle) collided with the front left of (the second vehicle’s) trailer.” Baughman’s truck “continued to travel in a southern direction and traveled off the paved portion of the roadway, coming to rest on the east shoulder of 71 facing east.”
Neither the driver of the second vehicle, Mark Guerra of Sneads, nor his passenger, Mark Smith of Sneads, received any injuries, FHP said. The FHP crash investigator was Trooper J. Bowman and the homicide investigator was Cpl. Dallas Jones. PHP said seatbelts were in use by both drivers and the passenger and that no alcohol was involved in the crash. The damage to the county vehicle was placed at $5,000 and the damage to the second vehicle,
$2,000.
Vehicle recovered from Compass Lake with two fatalities
A Cottondale couple mysteriously died last weekend in an automobile incident involving their vehicle being submerged in Compass Lake at a boat ramp site. The case is being investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol, not the Jackson County Sheriff’s office, Major Donnie Branch said Wednesday morning. FHP was unavailable for comment but Branch was able to confirm that the victims were Billy Daniel Pullam, 60, and Tarina White, 46, of Cottondale. The vehicle reportedly was a 1998 Dodge 1500 pickup truck belonging to Pullam. Compass Lake is located south of Alford off US 231.