MARTA Officer Injured in Collision in Decatur

A MARTA police officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries in a collision Friday afternoon with a van near the Citgo station on W. Howard Avenue in Decatur.

The MARTA officer, who was not identified, was transported to Atlanta Medical Center with “non-life-threatening injuries," said MARTA spokeswoman Cara Hodgson.
 
Jose A. Reino, who was driving a white painter’s van, said he was turning from W. Howard Avenue into the gas station early Friday afternoon when the unmarked white police car allegedly drove up “at 80 miles per hour” and broadsided his vehicle, he said. He said he and two others in the van were not injured. Water Garcia, the owner of the Garcia's Painting van, said the police car “came out of nowhere.”
 
A gasoline pump at the station appeared to have been hit during the collision, and Decatur Police officers and firefighters put down material to absorb spills, but the crash did not appear to have seriously damaged the pump. Traffic on W. Howard in front of the station and the Thinking Man Tavern was temporarily blocked while officers investigated the accident.
 
Decatur Police officers and firefighters were on the scene of the crash, sweeping up debris and helping to transport the injured officer on a stretcher.

Decatur Deputy Police Chief Keith Lee said the MARTA vehicle was responding to a call when the white van pulled out of the gas station into his path.

The officer was the only person injured in the collision.