An off-duty MARTA police officer and former Georgia Tech football standout died Saturday after a motorcycle crash outside a Fulton County funeral home, officials said.
Jesse Tarplin, 38, was an 11-year veteran of the MARTA police force. Fulton County police Lt. Scott McBride said Tarplin was escorting a funeral procession from the Murray Brothers Funeral Home — on Utoy Springs Road near Cascade Road — when he collided with a vehicle that was stopped for the procession.
“We’re not sure why,” McBride said.
The crash happened around 12:45 p.m. and Tarplin was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he later died.
Tarplin was a graduate of Cross Keys High School and played football for Georgia Tech from 1995-98. He started at defensive end for two years and earned second-team All-ACC honors as a senior, according to the Georgia Tech website.
Tarplin was off-duty and on his personal motorcycle during the crash, McBride said. No charges are expected to be filed against the driver of the other vehicle, he said.
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