By Mike Morris, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An Atlanta police officer was critically injured early Thursday when his patrol car collided with a sport utility vehicle at a Buckhead intersection and burst into flames.
The crash occurred shortly before 1 a.m. at Piedmont Road and Lindbergh Way, near the Lindbergh MARTA station.
The officer, Richard Roach, was pulled from the wreckage and rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, according to Atlanta police Maj. Carlos Banda.
Roach, 37, was in critical but stable condition. Banda said Roach had head, shoulder and leg injuries.
The officer’s wife and 3-year-old daughter were at the hospital with him Thursday morning, Banda said.
Banda said Roach moved to Atlanta from Rochester, N.Y., three years ago and joined the force.
The SUV driver, who police said turned left and struck the driver’s side door of Roach’s cruiser, was also taken to Grady for a blood alcohol test and treatment of minor injuries.
The man, identified by police as a college student, failed a field sobriety test and was charged with driving under the influence, Banda said. His name was not immediately released.
Banda credited passersby and other officers for using fire extinguishers to control the flames after the patrol car caught fire.
“Thank goodness we have fire extinguishers in our cars,” Banda said. “It took every one of them to get it under control.”
Many of the injured officers colleagues, from Atlanta police as well as from other agencies such as DeKalb County and the Georgia State Patrol, gathered at Grady.
“It’s real tough on the officers,” Banda said. “It’s a very close fraternity, everyone cares about everyone else.”
Officers were on hand to “comfort each other,” said Atlanta Police Sgt. W.J. Burras, who was to brief Zone 5 colleagues on the incident.
MARTA officer M.D. Gibson and a colleague arrived mid-morning at Grady. “We just want to know how he is doing,” Gibson said.
- Staff writer Phil Gast contributed to this aritcle.