A woman faces her third DUI charge after being accused of hitting a police officer’s car in northwest Atlanta, causing the officer to suffer several broken bones, authorities said.
Dara Rappe, 30, allegedly rear-ended a Ford SUV at the intersection of Northside Drive and Woodward Way around 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Atlanta police spokeswoman Stephanie Brown told AJC.com. The wreck sent the SUV into a guard rail.
That SUV belonged to 20-year veteran Atlanta police officer William Goss, who has broken bones in his legs and a broken arm because of the crash, Channel 2 Action News reported. The 40-year-old officer, who was working an off-duty neighborhood patrol, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for his injuries.
“We have somebody who has decided — who has made a decision to drive under the influence of alcohol and put one of our officer’s lives in danger,” Sgt. John Chafee said. “That’s unacceptable.”
The crash was loud enough to wake up Juan Johnson, who lives nearby, Channel 2 reported.
“It woke me up through the walls of my house, so it was pretty violent,” he said. “My first thought was to try to get some help.”
Officers determined Rappe was at fault, Brown said. She was taken to the Atlanta Grady Detention Center on charges of DUI, following too closely, reckless driving and driving too fast for conditions. Rappe is scheduled to be in court at 9 a.m. Monday for an arraignment hearing.
She had two prior DUI arrests in Doraville and Gwinnett County, which both ended in crashes, Channel 2 reported. The Doraville arrest happened in September 2013, while the Gwinnett incident was in February 2014.
Rappe completed an alcohol awareness course in 2017 as part of her probation, court records obtained by the news station show.
Goss' family said he'll need several months of rehabilitation, Channel 2 reported. A GoFundMe page that was created to help the officer support his family had raised $5,900 as of Thursday afternoon. The page, created by his 21-year-old daughter Monica Gross, alleges that Rappe was texting before the crash.
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