3-Vehicle Pileup Kills GA Man On I-20

MABLETON, GA — A Douglasville man died in a three-vehicle crash Thursday afternoon in Mableton, Cobb County Police said Friday.

The fatal crash happened around 4:45 p.m. on I-20 westbound near Riverside Parkway, police said.

Douglasville resident Eric Patino, 31, was driving a 1997 Ford Explorer westbound on I-20 when he exited the far left lane for an unknown reason and continued across I-20 in a northeasterly direction, police said.

The back of his SUV then crashed into the front left side of a 2026 Nissan Frontier being driven by a 57-year-old Bremen man, police said.

The Ford then traveled clockwise and rear-ended the right side of a 2022 Audi Q7 driven by a 44-year-old Villa Rica resident, police said.

After crashing with the Audi, police said the Ford redirected, left the roadway and went into an embankment.

The Ford then overturned, and Patino was ejected into the embankment, police said.

Ultimately, the Ford uncontrollably rested in the wood line, and the drivers of the Audi and Nissan were able to controllably stop their vehicles on the right shoulder, police said.

The Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office pronounced Patino dead at the scene, police said. No one else was injured, police said.