Suspect Arrested, Charged With Vehicular Homicide in May 18 Big A Road Crash

On July 3, Paul Douglas Greene was arrested and booked into the Stephens County Jail on charges that include a misdemeanor charge of Homicide by Vehicle, 2nd Degree, in connection with the May 18 crash on Big A Road that took the life of Shane Alzen. 

Greene posted bond of $4,500 and was released the same day. 

Under Georgia law, the charge of vehicular homicide involves allegations that the driver of a vehicle, while committing certain traffic violations. unintentionally caused the death of another person. For an individual to be charged with first degree vehicular homicide, the state must also charge the individual with one of six underlying offenses, including illegally passing a school bus, reckless driving, reckless stunt driving, driving under the influence, fleeing from a police officer, or leaving the scene of an accident. First degree vehicular homicide charges can also be filed against what is known as “habitual offenders.” First Degree Vehicular Homicide is a felony charge, with a potential sentence of imprisonment for not less than three years nor more than 15 years.

In cases involving vehicular homicide where one of the above six charges are not filed against the suspect, the charge is a misdemeanor, with a possible sentence of no more than 12 months in jail or on probation, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

As previously reported by WNEG News, on May 18 at approximately 8:34, Stephens County E-911 Dispatch received a call that originally reported a collision between a vehicle and pedestrian, but upon dispatch, Toccoa Police officers discovered the collision had involved a truck and a motorcycle, not a pedestrian. 

Response to the crash closed the northbound lane of Big A Road for several hours that evening as local first responders and the Georgia State Patrol responded to the wreck and the GSP Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team, or SCRT, investigated the incident. 

On May 20, Georgia State Patrol released an initial report on the incident, stating that, on Troopers had been dispatched to Big A Road at Bellvue Drive to investigate a motor vehicle crash. Upon arrival their investigation determined that a Chevrolet Silverado was traveling south on Big A Road in the continuous turning lane. A Harley motorcycle was traveling north on Big A Road in the left northbound lane when the Chevy attempted to turn left from Big A Road onto Bellvue Drive and turned in front of the Harley.

The front Harley struck the front of Chevy and the impact caused the Harley to overturn onto its right side and was dragged by Chevy from the left lane of Big A Road into the right lane of Big A Road. The Harley came to a final uncontrolled rest overturned on its right side in the intersection of Big A Road and Bellvue Drive.

The driver of the Harley, Shane Alzen of Toccoa, succumbed to his injuries sustained from the crash and the passenger on the Harley, Julie Alzen, was transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Georgia with serious injuries. No official statement of Julie Alzen’s medical status has been released since the time of the accident.

WNEG News will continue to monitor this story and provide updates as they become available.

Note: Due to clerical oversight, Greene’s booking photo was not attached at the booking report provided to WNEG by the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office, WNEG will update this post once we receive the photo from the jail.