Ga. Tech Officer Injured in Wreck with Tanker Truck

Update: The police officer has been treated and released from Grady Memorial Hospital, said Georgia Tech spokeman Matt Nagel at 3:17 p.m. on Monday. 

A Georgia Tech police officer was injured Monday morning after his patrol car collided with a tanker truck carrying fuel. 

Around 8 a.m. on Feb. 28, 25-year-old Joseph Figura with the college’s police department was involved in an accident at the intersection of Centennial Olympic Park Drive and Pine Street, according to Tech spokesman Matt Nagel.

Figura was en route to assist an officer with the Atlanta Police Department who was “struggling with a suspect” on Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard, according to APD Officer Kim Jones.

While heading southbound on Centennial Olympic Park Drive, Figura’s 2003 Ford Crown Victoria rear-ended a 2007 tanker truck that was turning left onto Pine Street.

“The Ford Crown Victoria became lodged under the Conventional Tanker and was drug to a controlled final rest on the east side of intersection,” Jones said.

According to a report from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, who sent reporters to the scene, it took almost an hour to extricate the police officer from the mangled patrol car.

“Figura was taken to Grady Hospital and his injuries are still being evaluated,” Nagel said just after 1:30 p.m. on Monday. He said Figura, who has been with Georgia Tech Police Department for 3 years, is “alert and responsive.”

The driver of the tanker, Terry Lamar Martin, was not injured, Jones said.

APD’s Commercial Vehicle Compliance Unit will conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the accident and approximate speeds of the vehicles, Jones said. 

"No charges have been filed at this time," Jones said around 3 p.m. on Monday.