NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Two years after a Roswell police officer fought for his life, the veteran lawman is now fighting for his job and looking into legal action against the city.
David Booth was riding his police motorcycle off-duty for a funeral procession escort in February 2014 when he was hit from behind by a car. %
Booth was in a coma, then spent several months in-and-out of hospitals and rehab facilities.
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“Went for a 500-foot ride on the front of her car,” he told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik. “When she hit another car, she catapulted me onto the roadway. I was life-flighted to Grady.”
“I can’t even begin to describe the pain I went through,” he said. “It was very confusing. It was very scary.”
Booth said he eventually relearned to walk, but lost partial use of his right hand because of a nerve injury.
“Initially I couldn’t lift my wrist or do anything, so over time, over progress over rehab, I’ve either adapted to doing things, or I can functionally do things with it,” he said.
Booth said he wanted nothing more than to get back to the job he loved, so after a doctor medically cleared him, Roswell Police put him back on the road after he qualified on the firearms range using his left hand.
“The biggest hurdle for me was not making it apparent I had a disability,” he said. “I wanted to be able to do as much of it as I could on my own without help.”
Booth concedes it was tough.
“When I first went back on the road I had a trouble tying my shoes,” he said.
Records Petchenik obtained show Booth’s remarkable comeback wasn’t without issue.
In January, he received a written reprimand from a command officer.
“There have been a variety of incidents in the recent past where he has not displayed the decision-making skills expected of an officer with his experience,” the reprimand reads. “The productivity seen has been lower than expected of an officer with your experience.”
The commanding officer also wrote Booth spent too much time sitting in parking lots, sometimes out of view of the public and that he wasn’t proactive enough.
“Officer Booth, these issues are extremely serious,” it said. “The items listed above must be addressed immediately.”
Booth admitted to Petchenik he could have stepped it up more than he did. %
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“I wasn’t as proactive as I could have been,” he said. “I don’t believe it rose to a level of the actions they took.”
A few weeks ago, Booth said he was called into the chief’s office and terminated. He’s now hired an attorney and said he’s looking into legal action under the “Americans With Disabilities Act.”
“The things I’ve done isn’t something you’d normally terminate a long-time employee for,” he said.
Petchenik reached out to the Roswell Police Department and a spokeswoman told him they couldn’t comment on pending litigation.