DeKalb County

Good Samaritans rescue motorcyclist hit by car on I-20 after 911 takes too long

DEKALB COUNTY — Lesia Mescudi-Davis says it was the actions of good Samaritans who saved her son’s life after he was involved in a hit-and-run accident while on his motorcycle.

“It could have been something so much more devastating,” Mescudi-Davis said.

She says her son’s body was dragged off the road by good Samaritans after a driver hit him and left him in the middle of I-20 near Wesley Chapel Road over Memorial Day weekend.

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“Drivers were passing by and the debris was hitting him in the face and whatnot,” Mescudi-Davis said.

Marsalis Mescudi spoke to Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln from his hospital bed at Grady Memorial Hospital on Monday. Mescudi was heading home after a get-together with friends Memorial Day weekend. As he was getting on I-20 westbound at Wesley Chapel Road, he remembers a car hitting his tire, then spinning out of control.

“I remember the thud to my back tire,” Mescudi said. “I remembered the bike turned sideways and then the dragging started.”

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A Dekalb County police report shows that the suspect’s vehicle tried passing Mescudi in the same lane Mescudi was traveling in before hitting him.

Mescudi suffered third-degree road rash, a broken pelvis, a shattered knee and damage to his vertebrae.

“So he can’t walk, he can’t walk right now,” Mescudi-Davis said.

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His mother says because drivers were placed on hold by 911 for a significant amount of time, one driver decided to drive to the nearest police precinct to get help.

“For those citizens to pull together, that moment was an angel moment,” Mescudi-Davis said.

Police and EMS eventually arrived, but because Mescudi blacked out, he was not able to give police the suspect’s vehicle description.

“I do hope that this will help them, and somebody will find him,” Mescudi said.

“Turn yourself in. It has to be eating at your conscious if you care,” Mescudi-Davis said.

Lincoln reached out to DeKalb County Police, who said that currently, there are no updates on this case. They’re asking anyone with information, regarding the suspect’s vehicle description to contact DeKalb County Police at 770-724-7589.

Last month, Channel 2 Action News reported on a $5 million upgrade at DeKalb County’s 911 center. The county hired 23 new operators at premium pay and installed new technology. That includes a new artificial intelligence system to help triage and process calls before they get to an operator.

The county handles not just calls from unincorporated areas, but also most of the cities within the county, and even Stone Mountain Park.

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