Wednesday, July 26, 2023–11:35 a.m.
-Jeremy Stewart, Polk Standard Journal-
This story is possible because of a news-sharing agreement with the Rome News-Tribune. More information can be found at northwestgeorgianews.com.
An Aragon man’s decisions in the minutes after he hit a Cedartown man on a bicycle with his vehicle nearly four years ago led a judge to find him guilty on hit and run and reckless conduct charges Tuesday.
Ralph “Ryan” Dover III was driving south on North Main Street in Cedartown on the evening of Sept. 11, 2019, when he struck Eric Keais, who was traveling in the same direction. Prosecutors said because Dover didn’t immediately report the incident to proper authorities it stretched out the time before Keais got medical care, leading to his death.
Testimony indicated that Dover drove more than half of a mile down the road after the collision to a convenience store instead of stopping sooner. He didn’t call the police or 911, instead calling a friend, State Rep. Trey Kelley.
Dover was convicted on charges of felony hit and run resulting in serious injury or death and misdemeanor reckless conduct. Cobb County Senior Judge Mary Staley Clark presided over the bench trial in Polk County Superior Court, which lasted two days. Dover waived his right to a jury trial through his attorney in April.
Sentencing is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 29. The maximum sentence allowed under state law for a conviction of hit and run resulting in serious injury or death is five years.
The prosecution stated that Dover’s actions following the collision were negligent, and Keais’ death was a direct result of the length of time it took for emergency personnel to be called to the scene.
Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jack Browning built up the timeline of events for the judge, noting that Dover struck the bicycle ridden by Keais at around 8:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes of North Main Street across the road from a shopping center.
Browning said it wasn’t until around 40 minutes later that any law enforcement personnel was notified. It was even longer before Keais was found by Cedartown police down an embankment on the side of the road and emergency medical services were called out to the scene.
Dover said just after the collision that he was not sure what he hit. He drove to a convenience store about half a mile down the road from where the collision occurred. The prosecution said there were multiple closer locations where Dover could have stopped prior to reaching the store, which is known as Tony’s.
“The evidence will show that it was a pretty violent collision … and that the testimony of the impact and distances involved will conclude that Dover could not have hit anything other than a person,” Browning said in his opening statement.
During opening arguments, Dover’s attorney Brian McWhorter said his client did not do anything that caused the collision and was cooperative with police throughout the course of the evening. He called Dover “a very simple man” who, while able to take care of himself, does have to look to others for assistance.
Dover testified Tuesday morning and said he was driving to the convenience store to get something to drink after volunteering at Kelley’s booth at the Polk County Fair earlier that evening.
Dover said he knew he hit something but did not think it was a person. He said he never saw anyone on a bicycle near where the collision took place. He said it was dark at the time and he drove to the convenience store because it was familiar and well-lit.
Browning reviewed that Dover first called Kelley, a local attorney, and Cedartown’s city solicitor at the time, after getting to the convenience store and asking him to come out to find out what happened.
After meeting with Dover, the two went back to the area where the collision happened to see if they could find what Dover had hit. They then went back to Tony’s where Kelley called Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome on his personal cell phone at 9:11 p.m. and explained what had happened.
Newsome testified that Kelley told him Dover had hit “something” and he had seen a bicycle when looking around the area but didn’t know if it was related to the incident. Newsome said that’s when he contacted Sgt. Josh Turner, the patrol supervisor on duty, got him to meet Dover and Kelley in the shopping center parking lot near the location of the collision.
“I told him that my fear was, and the reason he needed to get there, that there was an outside possibility that there was a person involved. And if so, we don’t know where they are,” Newsome said.
Footage shows events unfold in real time
Body camera footage from Turner shown in court Monday gave a real-time representation of the events that followed, including a short exchange between Turner, Dover, and Kelley, followed by the officer inspecting the roadway and ultimately finding Keais after using his flashlight to spot him in some brush.
Turner testified that he immediately radioed for EMS and rescue to come to the scene quickly and that Keais was struggling to breathe with a faint pulse.
Testifying Monday, Dr. Stacey Desamours, who supervised the autopsy of Keais for the GBI medical examiner’s office, said that the victim’s injuries, while serious and life-threatening, were treatable and survivable had he been attended to within minutes of being injured.
