CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The search continues for a man police say dragged an officer during a traffic stop. The officer was rushed to the hospital but was later released.
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Channel 2’s Tom Jones talked to a retired long-time officer who knows the dangers of traffic stops.
Faye Coffied says she was shopping on Upper Riverdale Road Wednesday afternoon when she saw several police cars with lights and sirens racing by.
“I said, ‘Oh, oh.’ Somebody getting ready to go to Grady,” Coffied said. “And then I saw the lead units, I saw the ambulance, and then I saw the units that were trailing the ambulance.”
She knew that meant an officer was hurt because she’s a former sergeant with the Atlanta Police Department and had gone through this before.
“And then I could also tell when I started seeing all the other cars from the multiple jurisdictions start going,” she said.
They were racing to the scene where Clayton County police say a driver dragged an officer after a traffic stop on Garden Walk Boulevard near Upper Riverdale.
“One of the most dangerous stops you can make,” Coffield said.
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Coffield, who spent 22 years with APD, said officers always have to deal with the unknown during traffic stops: “You don’t know who you’re stopping.”
Police say after the driver dragged the officer, the driver took off. The officer was rushed to the hospital but has since been released. Police are now searching for the suspect.
Coffield says the driver is on borrowed time.
“Trust me. Of all the things you don’t want the police to be looking for you for, you do not want them to be looking for you for jumping on the police or injuring the police,” she said.
Police say they are still trying to hunt down the driver. They say U.S. Marshals are also searching.
Jones learned the officer is doing OK.
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