Dalton police will not charge a driver for hitting and killing a pedestrian last week.
According to a release from the department, 42-year-old Edward Lamar Cook was driving a Ford F-150 north on Chattanooga Road around 8 p.m. Thursday when 40-year-old April Alesi stepped in front of the truck near the intersection with Tibbs Road. Witnesses and responding police officers performed CPR, but a Hamilton Medical Center doctor pronounced Alesi dead after she arrived.
A test at the hospital showed Alesi's blood alcohol level was 0.42, a police spokesman said. That is more than five times the legal limit to drive. Investigators reviewed security camera footage that caught the crash and concluded that Cook had no chance to avoid Alesi, of Newnan, Ga., when she stepped into the road.
Cook, however, does face different criminal charges. Police arrested him for possession of marijuana and intent to sell marijuana Tuesday because they say they found a jar with the drug inside the car. A spokesman for the department said marijuana was not a factor in the crash.