In a dramatic turn of events, Atlanta police officers rescued a man from being struck by a train after he had stolen and crashed a police car in southwest Atlanta. The incident began during a routine traffic stop when an officer was attending to a motorist.
In the midst of the interaction, the officer noticed suspicious activity behind him and saw that his patrol car was being taken.
The stolen police car sped off on Greenbriar Parkway just after 2 a.m., prompting the officer to issue a lookout alert. Other law enforcement agencies swiftly joined the pursuit. Soon after, the Atlanta Police Department’s helicopter located the stolen vehicle and monitored its movements as the suspect took it on a reckless joyride.
The situation escalated when the suspect drove the stolen police car onto train tracks off McDonough Boulevard, causing the vehicle to flip over. Initially, officers believed that the ordeal had ended, but they soon realized that a freight train was rapidly approaching the overturned car with the suspect trapped inside.
Without hesitation, the officers went into rescue mode and managed to extract the suspect from the vehicle just before the Norfolk Southern Locomotive collided with the car. The 29-year-old suspect, Mickal Parker, was arrested and subsequently taken to Fulton County Jail. He now faces charges of theft by taking, fleeing, reckless driving, obstruction, and damage to city property.
The police reported that Parker suffered minor injuries as a result of the car flipping over, but no officers were harmed during the incident. Authorities are still uncertain about Parker’s motives for stealing the patrol car, as he was not involved in the original traffic stop.