A Fairburn police officer who was investigating an overnight rollover crash Tuesday was hit by a tractor-trailer on I-85, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Officer T.J. Giddens, who has worked with the Fairburn Police Department since April 2011, escaped the crash with minor injuries but his police cruiser was destroyed, Fairburn police spokesman Sgt. Anthony Bazydlo told Channel 2. Giddens was treated and released from Tuesday evening from Grady Memorial Hospital, Channel 2 said.
The station spoke to Bobby Quinton, 57, the driver of the tractor trailer, who said that he had been driving for 37 years and spent the last two driving the same route from Atlanta to Montgomery, Alabama. Quinton told station that he was hit by a big rig and pushed into the police car, but the other driver kept going.
Quinton, who drives for Li-Way Transfer and Storage, was cited for driving too fast for conditions and failure to heed the move over law, Channel 2 said. If you have the opportunity to move over…we recommend you do it,” Bazydlo said. If drivers can’t move over, “Slow down enough where you can be prepared to stop in the event of an emergency,” he added.
Channel 2 said Giddens will be out of work a couple of weeks, but he is expected to make a full recovery.
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