ATLANTA — A MARTA officer is critically injured after a car hit him on the way to work Friday.
It happened around 7 a.m. on Moreland Avenue in southeast Atlanta. The road was shut down at Glenwood Avenue most of the morning because the crash impact snapped a utility pole. Low-hanging wires would have prevented larger trucks from getting through.
Police said a red Camaro crossed over the center line and hit the MARTA officer's pick-up truck head-on. A neighbor said it sounded like an explosion.
"I hear squealing brakes, squealing tires," he told Channel 2's Steve Gelbach.
Both drivers were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. MARTA said the officer is in critical condition, but the injuries don't appear to be life-threatening.
Police also said two passengers in the Camaro were transported to children's hospitals to be evaluated.
The Camaro driver, identified as 32-year-old Tony Hill, was charged with driving on the wrong side of the road and driving with a suspended license.
It's unclear what led to the crash.
"He stated that he was driving on Moreland Ave SE and all of the sudden was on the other side of the street," Atlanta police spokesman Greg Lyon told Gelbach via email.
The MARTA officer was in uniform, wearing a bullet-proof vest at the time. Another officer said he thinks the vest helped absorb some of the impact of the crash and prevented further injury.
Georgia Power crews spent most of the morning fixing the power pole. Moreland Avenue reopened before lunchtime.
WSBTV
