Hit-and-Run Driver Indicted on 29 Charges, Including Murder, After Striking 15 Vehicles

Snellville and Gwinnett County Police responded to a devastating scene Jan. 23 after an alleged drunk driver caused a total of 15 accidents stretching from Memorial Drive in DeKalb to Walton Court just outside of Snellville city limits.

According to Gwinnett Police Cpl. Jake Smith, the driver ended his rampage when he crashed into John Boy's restaurant on Highway 78. The five-vehicle crash, on Walton, resulted in a fatality. 

The driver, Michael Owen Snider, was indicted on April 24 by a Gwinnett County jury on 29 separate charges, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. The charges include two counts of homicide by vehicle and another of felony murder, meaning that the jury believes Snider intentionally set out to kill people on the road that night.

Other charges include:

• 11 counts of first-degree criminal damage to property
• 10 counts of failure to stop at the scene of an accident
• Two counts of serious injury by vehicle
• Two counts of driving under the influence 
• One count of reckless driving
• Two counts of homicide by vehicle
• One of felony murder stemming from the death of 69-year-old Mintiwab Woldeyhannes

Following Snider's arrest, officers contacted his son and advised him of his father's location. While the officers did not mention the involvement of alcohol, the son stated he wanted it known that Snider had just come from a bar in DeKalb. He stated that the bar continuously overserves Snider and that, despite his protestations and phone calls to the bar, nothing changed. 

For further reading:

• Series of Hit and Runs Results in Fatality at Highway 78 and Walton Court