A wrong-way driver and a young child were seriously injured after speeding away from an officer during a traffic stop Friday morning and crashing, police said.
Katrina Butts faces charges of aggravated assault, hit-and-run, obstruction, reckless driving, improper backing, driving against traffic on a one-way street and failure to properly restrain a child after the incident in south Atlanta.
While driving east on Lakewood Terrace, an Atlanta police officer spotted Butts driving the wrong way in a Kia Optima around 12:50 a.m., according to an incident report. The officer began turning around to initiate a traffic stop when Butts had already made a U-turn and began driving on Compton Street.
Knowing that Compton Street was a dead end, the officer parked at the corner and waited for Butts to return.
That was when Butts reversed her car into the patrol vehicle and continued to do so while the armed officer asked her to place the car in park, the report states. The officer did not fire during the encounter, police said.
Butts then drove forward, eventually hitting a tree after failing to navigate a right curve, Georgia State Patrol spokesman Lt. W. Mark Riley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Butts and the child, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, were trapped inside the car following the wreck, Riley said. Once emergency personnel were able to free them, both were taken to the hospital. Their current conditions were not released.
APD is investigating the initial crash between Butts and the officer, while the GSP is investigating the single-car crash.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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