Savannah Police officer backs into driver, totaling car in alleged chase
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SAVANNAH, Ga. () -A Savannah Police officer backed into a citizen’s car last month while allegedly pursuing a suspect, sending the driver to the hospital.

That citizen, Darnell Thomas, is now speaking out about the incident exclusively with . Our crew walked the scene of the crash with him.

“As I was coming down 40th Street, I was making a left to come down this street right here,” Thomas said. “I think when I got to at least about 39th Street, I started seeing a lot of lights up there, and I knew something was going on over there.”

He pointed to a Munchie’s parking lot on 38th Street as the location where officers had been gathered.

“He [the officer] made a right [from] 38th Street…So, I’m slowly proceeding, but then he ends up stopping,” Thomas said. “As I’m crossing 38th Street, he ends up stopping his car and throwing his car in reverse. When I saw he was putting his car in reverse, I tried to put my car in reverse. I probably was like three or four car lengths behind him.”

That’s when he said the officer “smashed” the front of his car on Martin Luther King Boulevard.

According to Thomas, the officer appeared to be pursuing someone who had fled from where the SPD cars were originally gathered.

A police report obtained by describes the damage to his vehicle as “disabling.”

“My car is totaled,” he said. “I bought it like two weeks ago. So, it only had 1,300 miles on it. So, that was a waste of, kind of hurtful.”

Thomas was brought to the emergency room following the incident. Since then, he said he has been receiving treatment in physical therapy.

“EMS was there. When I was able to get out of the car, that’s when I kind of felt my body go numb, my back, kind of shaken up a little bit,” he said.

According to the police report, the officer who backed up received no citations.

“I know they respond to emergencies and things of that nature, but at the end of the day, public safety, they need to be more aware of that too because that could have been a pedestrian. I could have been out there just walking,” he said.

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