Help Us Fight a Wrongful Citation

Taking my case to a Jury Trial and need funds to assist with similar matters to not continue to occur, for all those which have already experienced this, and for those who have been afraid to stand up for value our city and county taxes go towards to make our communities safe.

On October 31, 2024 at approximately 9:40-9:45pm a driver of a silver 2017 Toyota Corolla LE (License Plate CXH1182) ran a red light at the State Bridge Way (Alpharetta Commons shopping center) and GA120 intersection and struck our silver 2011 Acura MDX (License Plate CGW6021). Our 17-year-old daughter was in the front passenger seat and we were both sent to the ER.

While we were traveling eastbound on GA120, in the farthest left lane, I saw a vehicle coming out of State Bridge Way (on the left) at the intersection of Alpharetta Commons shopping center intersection and stated to our daughter, “Look, that guy’s running a red light”. The silver 2017 Toyota Corolla LE was already a quarter of the way into the intersection. Our light was still green at that intersection. I also happened to notice there were no vehicles in oncoming traffic lanes (space between intersection of Kimball Bridge Road and State Bridge Road and intersection of State Bridge Way (Alpharetta Commons shopping center). While slamming on my brakes, in attempt to avoid the other vehicle (while our traffic light was still green), I heard our daughter say, “He’s speeding up!”. I happened to roll my eyes up to catch that our traffic light is still green.

As we were coming to a stop from slamming on my brakes the Toyota Corolla struck our Acura MDX on the driver's side quarter panel and metal running board along the side of the Acura MDX. As we were spinning the back driver’s side quarter panel of our Acura MDX hit the back passenger side quarter panel of the Toyota Corolla (to find later that they were knocked in to the median between the lanes on GA120). When we stopped spinning from the impact, our Acura MDX was knocked into the out lane of the Alpharetta Commons shopping center halfway between the light at that intersection and the entrance to Chick-Fil-A with the front of our Acura MDX pointing to the Sport Clips in that shopping center (slightly diagonal in the out lane of the shopping center).

I began moaning, “That guy ran a red light and hit us” over and over and over again. I was experiencing a lot of pain at that moment and my daughter attempted to call 911 but the line was busy so she called my wife (her mother). I asked our daughter to get out of our vehicle and take pictures of both vehicles and wait for police officers to arrive. I continued moaning, “That vehicle ran a red light and hit us”. While doing so a lady asked, from the other side of my window, “Are you hurt”. I continued to moan, “That guy ran a redlight and hit us”. That same lady pulled back my driver’s side airbag, without giving her name/stating if she was a health professional/or stating her intentions, looked inside my vehicle and asked again, “Are you hurt”. I moaned again, “That guy ran a red light and hit us” and added “I want that other vehicle tested for alcohol”.

After she let go of the driver’s side air bag on our Acura MDX, I heard that same lady command our daughter to sit down. I also heard our daughter tell the lady, “Step away from my dad”.

Soon after that EMS came to my driver’s side window and announced themselves as such prior to opening my door and pulling back the airbag to clearly see me. They checked me over for injuries and looked at one another and stated, “You have a lot of bruising on your abdomen and your forearm, would you like us to take you to the hospital”. At that point I knew my wife was on the way to the accident site to see how bad we were hurt and take us to the ER, so I hesitantly said no. I also wanted to learn how bad my injuries were by getting out of the vehicle and walking prior to making decision of whether to let EMS take me to the ER or wait for my wife. EMS stated, “If you change your mind let us know, we’ll be here for a while”. I asked EMS to cut the piece of the driver’s side airbag away from the pillar that connect the dashboard to the roof of my Acura MDX so I could get out of my vehicle.

Right before I got out of the vehicle a short Alpharetta police officer without tattoos on his arms came over and commanded, “Tell me what happened”. He was not facing me when he commanded me to tell him what happened. He was standing behind where I was sitting in the vehicle when he gave his command. As soon as I stated, “While we were going thru our light, and it was green, another vehicle ran a their red light and hit us”, he walked off. He did not wait to let me finish explaining to him what happened prior to us reaching the intersection and when we were struck by the other vehicle. I very slowly got out of the Acura MDX and began limping around to see the damage and hold our daughter to comfort her. Soon after that my wife arrived.

A few minutes later 2 Alpharetta police officers approached my wife and I and proceeded to hand me a citation that stated I ran a red light and struck another vehicle. When they explained it and asked for my signature, I stated I was not going to sign it. The shorter Alpharetta police officer without tattoos on his arm replied, “If you don’t sign it, we will have to take you somewhere”. I repeated, “I’m not signing that” and stated “I’m a 50-year-old man, why would I run a red light” Pause “With my daughter in the car”.

At the same time the hand of the taller Alpharetta police officer with tattoos on both arms who was holding the citation started shaking (I happened to notice it because the citation started shaking). I also happened to notice that the traffic citation had the no injuries box checked and the box was checked for heavy traffic instead of medium or light traffic.

• (If there was heavy traffic during my approach to the Alpharetta Commons shopping center and GA120 intersection the silver 2017 Toyota Corolla LE would have been struck by another vehicle in the lanes closest to him since he was already a quarter of the way into the intersection. Or a vehicle would have more than likely struck me from behind as I slammed on my brakes in an attempt to avoid the Toyota Corolla. Or another vehicle would have struck our silver 2011 Acura MDX as we were spun from the left lane of GA120 into the out lane of the Alpharetta Commons shopping center. There were no vehicles closer than at least 100 feet behind me as we approached the intersection)

My wife stated just sign it since they are in charge. At that moment the shorter Alpharetta police officer without tattoos on both arms said, “Oh no I’m not in charge”. I then scribbled on the citation and handed it back.

I told the Alpharetta police officers that as I approached the intersection the other vehicle was already a quarter of the way into the intersection and I stated to my daughter, “Look, that guy is running a red light”. The taller Alpharetta police officer with tattoos on both arms stated, “You can plead your case in court”. Then I repeated, “I’m a 50-year-old man, why would I run a redlight” Pause “With my daughter in the car”. I then asked if I could exchange insurance information with the driver of the other vehicle and the shorter Alpharetta police officer replied, “No, you can get that after the police report is available”. I then stated, “it is my right to exchange insurance information with the other driver”. The same Alpharetta police officer stated, “You can obtain that after the police report is available”.

After walking around for a few minutes to cool off, take pictures of both vehicles, and continuing assess my injuries I approached the taller Alpharetta police officer with tattoos on both arms again and asked if I could speak with all the police officers still at the scene at the same time. The taller Alpharetta police officer with tattoos on both arms responded, “No, you can argue your case in court”. I replied, “Can I ask you a question)? I asked, “How old are you?” He replied, “I’m not going to answer that”. I stated again, “I’m a 50-year-old man, why would I run a red light” Pause “With my daughter in the vehicle” as the shorter Alpharetta police officer stepped out of the black vehicle next to us with tinted windows.

I stated that I told our daughter, “Look that guy is running a redlight” because that silver 2017 Toyota Corolla LE was already a quarter of the way into the intersection, we were approaching with our green light. The shorter Alpharetta police officer without tattoos on both arms (who just stepped out of the vehicle next to me) stated, “There are 3 witnesses stating you ran the redlight and struck the other vehicle, of which includes a witness from 5 to 6 cars behind you” and motioned to a lady in a white pickup truck. (Which I recognized as the same lady that pulled my airbag back without stating her name/intentions/or if she was a health professional. The gentleman next to her in the passenger seat appeared blitzed from drinking. Picture of the front of the white pickup truck can also be seen in one of the pictures of damage to my vehicle at the accident site.) I repeated again to both officers, “I’m a 50-year-old man, why would I run a red light” Pause “With my daughter in the vehicle”. The shorter officer without tattoos on both arms replied, “You can argue that at your court date”.

My daughter and I left the accident scene with my wife after United Towing began to get our Acura MDX on the tow truck and went to the Northside Hospital Gwinnett in Duluth ER where I was diagnosed as having Blunt Abdominal Trauma on the left side of my body and Left-Hand Contusion after x-rays and a CT-Scan. Our daughter was diagnosed with Musculoskeletal Pain and Lumbar Strain after x-rays. We arrived at Northside Hospital Gwinnet in Duluth at 11:39pm on 10/31/2024 and left the ER at 1:46am on 11/1/2024.

While at United Towing at 1160 Tidwell Road, Alpharetta GA on the afternoon of 11/1/2024 removing remaining items from our Acura MDX a tow truck pulled up and the same gentleman who towed my vehicle from the accident site walked over and stated, “You’re a familiar face”. I was taking pictures of the Silver 2017 Toyota Corolla LE at this point. We chatted briefly for a minute, mostly him ensuring I was okay. Then the tow truck driver stated, “I want to tell you something about this car. When I got inside to move it last night it smelt like alcohol”.

Additional Facts:

Police Case # 2410-0508

Citation # 202410794

New Court Date for Alpharetta Police to adhere to a Recovery Request: March 18, 2025 at 1pm at Alpharetta Municipal Court

Accident Date and Time: October 31, 2024 at approximately 9:40-9:45 pm

1. When I sit in the front of our vehicles it is always between where the front door opens and the pillar before the back door.

2. I don’t run red lights. Especially with another person is in my vehicle. Family member or not.

3. What could some other driver see 5-6 vehicles behind us plus at least an additional 100 feet between the first vehicle behind us?

4. Turns out lady that looked inside our vehicle without stating her name/intentions/if she is a health professional and in driver’s seat of white pickup truck and gentleman in passenger seat are the managers of the driver of the 2017 Toyota Corolla LE.

5. Attorney Fees for Court Date on 1/21/2025 were $1,000

6. New Court Date on 3/18/2025 = $2,500

7. Jury Trial court filing fees = $975 (this does not include defense attorney fees)

8. On November 8 at around 7:45 Lt. Hart (Alpharetta Police Department) stated inconsistency exists between citation and police report during a phone call.

9. Alpharetta Police Department has refused to release officer body camera footage unless we hired a defense attorney. This could eventually lead to a Jury Trial.