Published: February 08, 2006 02:54 pm      

Police car wrecks on Hwy 16

High winds blamed for accident

With the New Year came a lot of nasty weather. So much in fact that it blew one Jackson Police Officer’s vehicle off the road.

“Around six p.m. on Monday, January 2, Officer Brian Shephard was leaving his home in Griffin and coming to work on Highway 16,” Jackson Police Chief Mike Riley told the Progress-Argus. “Shephard said that a strong wind just blew him off on the shoulder, and with the weather the way it was, he just lost control of the vehicle. The Georgia State Trooper that was on the scene wrote it up as hydroplaning.”

The vehicle was an older car that had been converted into a K-9 unit, and that unit is now totaled.

“Shephard received several lacerations to the back of his head from the K-9 cage, and a sprained knee,” said Riley. “He had to have six staples to seal those lacerations to his head.”

The dog that was on board was not injured in the crash.

Emergency Medical Technicians that were on the scene removed the roof of the vehicle to retrieve Shephard, which is standard procedure when dealing with a subject who might have received neck or spinal cord injuries.

“We’re just glad he wasn’t seriously injured and that no one else was involved,” said Riley. “Accidents happen to everyone, and police are not immune.”