Our Atlanta personal injury and workers compensation law firm has learned that a Zone 4 Atlanta police officer was injured early this morning while he was assisting a stranded driver on the ramp from I-285 southbound to I-20 westbound. According the stranded driver, the APD officer was a friend who she had called to the scene because her vehicle had run out of gas. While the officer was assisting her, an apparent drunk driver struck the officer causing head and upper extremity injuries. It is our understanding that the at-fault driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. The officer was transported to Grady Hospital for emergency care, and our thoughts are with both him and his family.
The injured officer certainly has a personal injury claim against the at-fault driver, and, if the at-fault driver was, in fact, driving under the influence, the officer will have a right to pursue punitive damages. Depending on the extent of the officer's injuries, his case could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Interestingly, the injured officer may also have a workers' compensation claim which also could be worth a substantial sum. The information that we have obtained indicates that the officer was off-duty at the time of the accident, but an argument could be made that he was acting his capacity as a law enforcement officer at the time of the injury.
Our law office represents Clients in both personal injury and workers compensation cases, and given the facts of this accident, it is important that the injured officer retain a similarly structured law firm. The injured officer will want to ensure that the law firm that he retains to assist him has the capacity and expertise to pursue both his personal injury case and his workers' compensation claim.
