Police say a Lowcountry man was killed Wednesday morning when the truck he was driving overturned in east Savannah. The wreck was the 20th fatal collision investigated by the Savannah-Chatham police department’s accident team this year.
Dean Michael Coreno, 48, of Bluffton, S.C., died at the scene of the 7:15 a.m. wreck at Skidaway Road and East Duffy Street, said Eunicia Baker, Savannah-Chatham police spokeswoman.
Coreno’s pickup was the only vehicle involved, and he was not wearing a seatbelt, police said.
Baker said Coreno was driving his 2008 Chevrolet Colorado south on Skidaway when he struck a curb on the south side of Duffy and a nearby oak tree. The truck then flipped onto its roof.
Major Accident Investigation Team officers are working to determine what led to the wreck.
Two of the 20 fatal collisions were hit-and-runs that claimed the lives of pedestrians. On Jan. 4, Peter Myers, 72, of Vero Beach, Fla., was killed as he walked across the 5700 block of Abercorn Street at night. Police began looking for a red 1999 or 2000 Chevrolet truck or SUV, but no charges have been brought in the case.
On May 16, Ronald Roundtree, 61, was struck by two cars during his attempt to cross East 37th Street at Paulsen Street. One car struck him and drove off while a second car ran over him and kept going, police said at the time. That case, too, is still being investigated, police said Wednesday.
Another pedestrian crossing Abercorn on the southside, Cynthia Bridges, 59, died March 14 after being struck by a car.
The third fatal wreck on Abercorn on the southside was June 11, when Cindy De Felippo, 50, of Tequesta, Fla., died after the car she was a passenger in was struck by a pickup as it turned left onto Deerfield Road.
At least four of the wrecks only involved one vehicle — two of them on interstates during stormy weather.
Plus, two motorcyclists have been killed in Savannah-area crashes this year, as was a man who was struck by a pickup while riding his lawn mower down a road at night.
Interstate 16 outside metro police jurisdiction garnered significant attention when 10 people were killed in two wrecks just a month apart. The first, which claimed the lives of five Georgia Southern University students in April, was in Bryan County. The second wreck on I-16 that left five people dead was in May in Pooler. Both wrecks began when semitrailers struck smaller vehicles from behind. The Georgia State Patrol is investigating those wrecks.
Police in Savannah have also investigated several wrecks this year that left people seriously injured. In one, a pedestrian lost his leg after being pinned between a car and a telephone pole at Montgomery and West 52nd streets. In two separate incidents, police reported children being thrown from cars but surviving.
If you have information that can help police investigate any hit-and-runs, call CrimeStoppers at 912-234-2020.