The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Man accused in I-85 collapse is scolded for alcohol use
Fulton judge clarifies rules laid out by pretrial supervisor.
The man charged with setting the fire that led to the collapse of a portion of I-85 in Atlanta was reprimanded on Monday after testing positive for alcohol.
Basil Eleby, who is in a pretrial drug treatment program as a condition of his bond, also tested positive for cocaine on Sept. 6.
On Monday, he was placed briefly in handcuffs and could have been returned to prison. Instead, he will continue in the treatment program after it was determined that alcohol had not been specifically outlawed under the conditions of his bond.
“Ma’am, I never had a problem with alcohol,” Eleby told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Constance Russell.
Russell said Eleby must comply with rules laid by pretrial supervision.
“Are you not clear about the fact that you’re not free?” Russell asked.
Authorities charged Eleby with arson after they say he set fire to a shopping cart under the highway in March. The blaze eventually caused a chunk of the busy interstate to collapse after it spread to construction material the Georgia Department of Transportation stored under the bridge.
Eleby, who had been homeless at the time, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers have said he has an alibi and is being made a scapegoat for GDOT, who erred in storing the materials there.
The interstate collapse on March 30 snarled traffic in metro Atlanta until the stretch of highway was reopened six weeks later, about a month ahead of schedule of the original June 15 completion date.
Contractor C.W. Matthews worked around the clock to rebuild 350 feet of elevated highway in each direction. The state offered an incentive of $3.1 million for the early completion of the highway repair.
Good weather and luck helped accelerate the schedule. Workers lost only one full day to bad weather during the project, and the fire spared the bridge’s foundation and its original 13 columns.