Atlanta

Officer rams through locked gate to help driver who went off bridge

ATLANTA — An Atlanta police officer’s quick actions likely helped save a driver’s life who had driven off a bridge.

Officer Jimmy Cenescar was called out to the crash near Marietta Road and Thomas Street in Northwest Atlanta around 1 a.m. Thursday.

Cenescar said he was flagged down by a witness who told him that they had driven off the bridge and landed about 50 ft. below.

“I knew I had to take action quickly to get that driver out of the vehicle because I knew under that bridge was a train track,” Cenescar said.

In order for him to get to the car, Cenescar had to go through a locked gate. That was when he called his supervisor because he knew the quickest way to get to the victims was to ram through the gate.

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He got permission from his supervisor to crash through the gate to get to the victims.

“During the times I’ve tried to ramp through that gate, everything seemed like it was going to slow motion. I attempted to not do it again about three times and on the third time I was finally successful in getting through,” Cenescar said.

Once he was able to get to the driver, Cenescar started first aid on the victim.

“The incident itself was rapidly evolving and it was intense,” Cenescar said. “The gentleman’s flagging me that in the background, I hear several ladies yelling, asking for help, you know screaming for help. So it was just a very chaotic scene. I just knew I had to get everything under control.”

The driver was taken to a nearby hospital in serious condition.

APD said that even though the gate caused extensive damage to the car, the department was very “proud of his efforts.”

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