An off-duty MARTA bus driver was arrested early Wednesday morning for driving on the wrong side of the road and hitting a police car while drunk.
Nichelle Therese Horton was seen driving her silver Chrysler 300 southbound in the northbound lane of Lawrenceville Highway near DeKalb Industrial Parkway, police said.
According to police reports, Horton’s car was weaving between the left and middle northbound lanes of the three-lane roadway, going between 12 and 20 mph.
A DeKalb County police officer was driving south on the correct side of the street when she spotted Horton, and tried to drive ahead of Horton in the northbound lanes in an attempt to warn any oncoming traffic of the wrong-way driver, police said.
But as the officer pulled alongside Horton’s car in an attempt to pass, Horton sped up and veered into the officer’s lane, hitting the rear quarter of the police car, according to police reports.
The officer braked, stopping both cars, and arrested Horton.
Horton, 40, was charged with driving under the influence, driving on the wrong side of the road, among other charges, and was released from the DeKalb County jail early Thursday morning on $2,000 bond.
Reached by phone Friday morning, Horton declined comment.
Horton has been a driver for MARTA since February 1997, according to MARTA officials, and most recently served as a back-up driver, filling in for other bus operators.
MARTA spokeswoman Cara Hodgson said Horton has been placed on unpaid leave until an internal investigation is complete.
Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this article.
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