Thursday, September 4, 2025–10:50 a.m.
-Gordon County Sheriff’s Office-
The driver of a car that crashed head-on into a Dade County family on the Rome Road after fleeing from law officers on August 23 has been returned to Gordon County from Tennessee.
44-year-old Matthew Allen Pickens of Calhoun was taken into custody by Hamilton County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s officials after being released from Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga.
He waived extradition and was transported to the Gordon County Jail, where he was booked on charges of homicide by vehicle, serious injury by vehicle, fleeing or attempting to elude officers, and a host of other traffic-related offenses.
The release of his identity was delayed due to his hospitalization in intensive care.
Pickens has been in the Gordon County Jail on three previous occasions, in 2020, 2022, and 2023, each time for traffic-related offenses.
The fatal crash on August 23 was investigated by the State Patrol, which filed the charges against Pickens.
You can read the previous news release issued by the Gordon County Sheriff’s Office below:
At about 2:40 pm on Saturday (August 23), a deputy sheriff was on I-75 southbound at the Exit 317 entrance ramp when a Mercedes automobile passed his patrol car, nearly striking it.
The deputy followed the car, which was driving erratically, making rapid lane changes, to Exit 312 (Fairmount Highway).
When the deputy attempted to stop the Mercedes, the driver aggressively sped away at a high rate of speed, initiating a pursuit.
The deputy, soon joined by other deputies, pursued the Mercedes east on Fairmount Highway to the intersection with the State Route 53 Bypass near Blackwood.
The violator turned onto the Bypass and continued fleeing back toward Calhoun, with deputies giving chase.
The violator drove at speeds well in excess of 100 miles per hour, recklessly outpacing the deputies, until he reached the intersection of the Bypass and State Route 53/Rome Road
At this intersection, the violator recklessly, irresponsibly, and in total disregard for the safety of any other person, decided to cross the roadway and drive the wrong way into oncoming (westbound) traffic.
The deputies did not pursue the violator into the oncoming traffic.
Within a few seconds, the violator struck a Honda CR-V head-on.
One occupant was killed and two others severely injured.
The deputies immediately began attempting to remove the injured from the cars, both of which were burning, and administering first aid.
Fire/Rescue and Emergency Medical Service personnel arrived swiftly to extricate and treat the injured.
Three people were airlifted away by a Heliborne ambulance. T
he violator, himself severely hurt, has not been positively identified.
The Georgia State Patrol is conducting the investigation of the crash in conjunction with the County Coroner.