Driver Charged With DUI After Hitting Cop On Ga. 400

ALPHARETTA, GA -- Another police officer working for a North Fulton agency was hit by a motorist accused of driving under the influence along Ga. 400 in Forsyth County.

The latest collision involved an officer with the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety whose patrol car was struck from behind by another vehicle on the northbound side of GA-400 near Buford Highway Friday night in Forsyth County.

Officer Dustin Bak's patrol vehicle and the other car sustained major damage in the crash, said Alpharetta police spokesperson Jason Muenzer said. Bak is mostly sore from the crash, but Muenzer added he should return to work soon.

The driver of the other car, Joseph Gife, was charged with driving under the influence. Forsyth County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Doug Rainwater said Gife was released Nov. 18 on a $5,800 bond.

The Nov. 17 collision was reported on the same evening as the crash that seriously injured Forsyth County sheriff's deputy Rod Reeves. Reeves, a former officer with the Sandy Springs Police Department, was sitting in his patrol vehicle on the Ga. 400 shoulder near Majors Road working traffic enforcement when a Ford Explorer driven by Aaron Riley Russell, 27, crashed into the sheriff's deputy's car.

Russell was charged with DUI, driving on a suspected/revoked Georgia's drivers license and was considered a habitual violator. He was transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Those two collisions aren't the only ones reported involving drivers allegedly under the influence and officers working some form of traffic enforcement.

In October, Roswell resident Zachary Fritz Hanson, 35, was charged with driving under the influence, violating the state's Move Over Law and failure to maintain lane after allegedly sideswiping a Roswell patrol vehicle on Holcomb Bridge Road. The vehicle and its accompanying officer were providing Roswell fire crews with traffic flow control when Hanson's vehicle crashed into the patrol unit.

In September, Ceijai Broughton was charged with driving under the influence, following too closely and violating Georgia's Move Over Law after she allegedly hit a full-marked Alpharetta patrol vehicle occupied by officer Jomo Bent on Ga. 400 northbound at Mansell Road. Bent's patrol car had all of its emergency lights activated, and was providing traffic and safety control for a construction crew when it was struck from behind by another car.

Photo: Joseph Gife. Credit: Forsyth County Sheriff's Office