A Fayetteville man

Thursday morning became the first traffic

fatality in unincorporated Fayette County in the

year 2000.

According to the

Fayette County Sheriff's Department, 69-year-old

Robert Donald Fountain was driving his 1997 Ford

Ranger pickup southbound on Redwine Road when he

left the roadway south of Ebenezer Church Road.

The truck continued south along the shoulder,

crossed Redwine Road, and struck a tree off the

roadway on the other side.

The investigation

has revealed that Fountain, the sole occupant of

the vehicle, was not wearing his seatbelt,

reports indicated. He died at the scene.

As is standard

procedure in fatal injury crashes, a blood sample

was taken to the state crime lab for analysis,

but it is not known at this time if alcohol or

drugs were involved in the crash, according to

the Sheriff's Department.

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