Parked LPD vehicle damaged in wreck

Published 4:00 pm Thursday, January 18, 2018

A parked LaGrange Police Department patrol car was involved in a vehicle wreck on Whitaker Road Wednesday around 6:30 p.m.

“[The officer] was driving on Whitaker Road, traveling toward Roanoke Road. He noticed a disabled vehicle off on the shoulder of the roadway that wasn’t able to make it up a hill,” LaGrange Police Lt. Mark Kostial said. “The officer exited his vehicle, and there was a Jeep coming in the opposite direction down the snow-covered hill. It was also covered with ice. The Jeep lost control, struck the officer’s patrol car, and the Georgia State Patrol responded to and investigated the wreck. [The Jeep] hit the patrol car, so fortunately no one was injured.”

Georgia State Patrol investigated the accident but did not immediately have information to how much damage there was to the LPD vehicle.

According to Kostial, the LPD had worked 16 accidents on Wednesday and Thursday morning.

“We’ve investigated a few private property wrecks, but no roadway wrecks. Some of the roads are still ice covered because the temperatures are what they are,” he said. “We expect that the road conditions will improve by later today. We’ve seen increased vehicle traffic on the roads, so we just ask that folks be careful.”

None of the wrecks the department had worked involved serious injuries or fatalities, Kostial said.

“There are a lot of abandoned vehicles that motorists or drivers have elected to park on the shoulders of the roadway,” he said. “I know there are local wrecker companies that are in the process of removing those, but as far as individuals becoming seriously injured as a result of wrecks that have been reported thus far during this snow event, we haven’t responded to any.”

The GSP worked 21 wrecks in Troup County on Wednesday, according to SFC Maurice Raines. He said none of those accidents involved serious injuries.