A Chamblee police officer was injured early Tuesday morning when a suspected drunken driver rear-ended his patrol vehicle in a construction zone at the I-285/Ga. 400 interchange, authorities said.
Lt. Roy Collar was assisting the Georgia Department of Transportation with traffic control just before 4 a.m. when his vehicle, parked on the Lenox Road northbound ramp to Ga. 400, was hit by “another vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed,” Chamblee police said in a news release.
That vehicle then burst into flames, but the suspect was able to escape and was immediately arrested and charged with driving under the influence, police said.
Collar suffered “moderate injuries” and was released from the hospital later in the day.
“This is the very reason why I’m passionate about working traffic operations,” Collar said in a statement, “so this doesn’t happen to other innocent people.”
The Georgia State Patrol is the lead agency for the incident.
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