Last month, Roswell 911 dispatchers sent officers to a local strip mall on what seemed like a routine hit-and-run crash.
Richard Johnson had discovered the damage to his smashed 2009 Toyota Corolla during his daily lunch-break walk through the parking lot of Brannon Square. Johnson told dispatchers he hadn’t seen the May 25 accident and didn’t know who slammed into his rear bumper.
By the time Officer Cindy Rooker arrived, the events unfolding in the strip mall parking lot would eventually reach the highest levels of city government and raise questions about whether the city’s top transportation official, Steve Acenbrak, was trying to hide a potentially embarrassing mishap. Acenbrak violated city policy, according to police, when he failed to report his accident in a city vehicle. Then, after returning to the scene, he suggested to the Johnson they could settle the matter outside the normal reporting channels, according to records.
“He’s, like, the head of transportation,” Rooker told a fellow officer. “He should know better.”
Top Roswell officials have declined interview requests to discuss the accident or Acenbrak’s actions in the parking lot that day. Acenbrak has not responded to requests for an interview. A city spokeswoman said the accident is a personnel issue that they won’t discuss. The city said he has no disciplinary actions against him.
A review of officer dash cam video, police reports and interviews show that Acenbrak violated city policy by not notifying police or city officials about the accident. Even after police arrived, he continued to ask if there was a way to settle the matter directly with Johnson or without going through regular accident reporting protocols.
Acenbrak drives a white 2015 Ford Explorer issued by the city. The door has a prominent logo identifying it as a city vehicle in the transportation department’s fleet. The Explorer has a rear camera to help back up safely. Acenbrak told police he was backing up when another car suddenly appeared from his right. He accelerated to avoid it and he struck Johnson’s parked Corolla.
He said he couldn’t find the Corolla’s owner and left a note under the windshield wiper that read: “I’m sorry. I accidentally backed into you. Please call me. Steve.” He didn’t list his last name, failed to identify himself as a city official, and the number he wrote on the note appeared to be a private cell phone, according to the police report.
Officer Erik Schenk was the first officer to respond to Johnson’s call. When he arrived at the strip mall, he called the number on the note and told Acenbrak to return to the accident scene. Acenbrak identified himself as the city’s transportation director.
The police dash cam video documented Acenbrak’s efforts to try to settle the matter outside normal protocols.
“He told me it was embarrassing and was asking if there was anything we could do and I said ‘No, we can’t,’” Officer Erik Schenk reported to Rooker when she arrived at the scene.
Rooker is heard responding privately to Schenk with a sense of indignation that a city transportation leader would suggest such a thing.
“No,” she said. “You just left the scene of an accident, dude — a city vehicle accident where you have to call us … Jackass.”
Schenk noted in his report that he witnessed Acenbrak tell Johnson he wished he had called him first.
Johnson said in a recent interview that he was very uncomfortable with Acenbrak’s actions at the scene. He described Acenbrak’s behavior as immature and almost like he was in denial about what had happened.
Johnson confirmed that the transportation director told him several times that he wished he’d called him first instead of the police. At one point, he asked how much it would cost to fix the damage, suggesting several hundred dollars.
“I said ‘I don’t know. That’s why I carry good Allstate (insurance),’” Johnson said. “That was quite wrong for him to even lean in that direction with his thinking.”
The Corolla is still in the shop, undergoing what could be thousands of dollars in repairs. The insurance company almost totaled his vehicle, valued at about $6,000.
Johnson said the officers at the scene were very professional, but he could sense tension between them and Acenbrak.
Dash cam video records Rooker telling Acenbrak that, when he’s driving a city vehicle, there are reporting requirements if an accident occurs.
“You know in a city vehicle that you have to report that,” she said. “Have you reported it to anybody in the city?”
He replies: “No.”
Minutes later, in a phone conversation with a supervisor, Rooker describes to what happened. She said the head of transportation left the scene without reporting the accident. She said the reason he came back is because police called him and told him to come back.
The supervisor said: “What’s his name? Steve Acenbrak? What an idiot.”
“Yeah, and apparently he’s was already discussing with the man, telling the man he should have just called him directly instead of calling the police,” Rooker said.
The supervisor says: “The city administrator can deal with that.”
When contacted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News for an interview, city administrator Gary Palmer responded: “I have no comment regarding your inquiry at this time.”
Mayor Lori Henry, who in her state of the city address in January vowed transparency, did not directly respond to an interview request. Police Chief Rusty Grant declined an interview request.
Tune in to Channel 2 Action News this afternoon to hear more from the man whose car was hit by the Roswell transportation director.
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