NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Police have arrested a woman accused of slamming into a Sandy Springs officer directing traffic Monday morning.
The crash happened along Powers Ferry Road near Riverside Drive.
Police told Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant that detectives used vehicle registration databases, sales records and traffic cameras to narrow down locations where the suspect's red Toyota would likely be and went down the list until they found it.
Local attorney Titus Nichols told Diamant he watched the dramatic hit-and-run through his rear view mirror as he headed to work Monday morning.
“At first when I saw it, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Nichols said. “The car swerved to the left and then hit the police officer with the hood of her car and the police officer went flying into the air. I immediately thought the worst.”
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Nichols said the woman in a red Toyota sedan hit a Sandy Springs police officer directing traffic outside a condo complex and then took off.
“Another motorist came up immediately after the officer was struck, actually stopped their vehicle, got out, used the officer’s radio and put it out that an officer had got hit by a car,” said Sgt. Sam Worsham with the Sandy Springs Police Department.
By the time Nichols stopped his car and ran back, there was a crowd of people trying to help the officer.
“You could still see the blood on the pavement while everyone was trying to assist the officer, just get him to lay still while the paramedics came,” Nichols said.
Luckily, the officer had just minor injuries and within hours, detectives tracked down the Toyota at a nearby apartment complex and arrested the driver, Madison Leftwich, 25, of Atlanta.
She faces a half dozen charges including hit-and-run.
“It’s unfortunate, because if she had just stopped to render aid, she wouldn’t be in nearly as much trouble as she’s going to be in now,” Nichols said.
Police told Diamant when they found the car, it had dents and other damage.
The officer did need a few stitches in his head, but he's out of a hospital and recovering at home.
Cox Media Group
