Woman plummets 30 feet after speeding driver knocks her off overpass, Georgia cops say
A Georgia woman has a long recovery ahead of her after police say a suspected street racer sent her flying off an interstate bridge.
Leslie Reese plummeted nearly 30 feet from the Interstate 85 overpass Monday afternoon, leaving her seriously injured, according to Georgia State Patrol. A speeding driver accused of causing the chain of events that landed her on the lawn below was later arrested and charged.
“She just kept saying that she can’t believe that happened to her,” her father, Irving Reese, told WSB-TV. “That’s the kind of stuff that happens in the movies.”
The incident unfolded around 4 p.m. when police say Horace Dillard Jr. was driving his Chevy Camaro at “excessive speeds,” weaving in and out of traffic as he raced another driver in the southbound lanes of I-85 near Piedmont Road in Atlanta. Dillard lost control when he collided with a Kia Optima, and the impact sent his car careening into the right emergency lane.
That’s where Reese was waiting on a friend to pick her up after her Chevy Cruz overheated, relatives told WXIA. She was standing on the shoulder of the road near her car when Dillard’s Chevy slammed into hers, knocking her over the bridge.
Savannah Priestley, Reese’s friend and roommate, was on the phone with her at the time and saw the crash unfold.
“As soon as I told her I saw her, I heard her get hit and scream and by the time I turned my vehicle around I saw her on the ground,” Priestley said, according to WXIA.
Reese was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with severe injuries, according to police. Her father said she suffered broken bones throughout her body after a fall “that should have ended her life.”
The family has since set up a GoFundMe to help Reese with her recovery and hospital expenses.
“Thanks to GOD, she survived but not without substantial damage,” a statement posted on the fundraiser reads. “ This event will change her life forever and her road to recovery will be a long and extensive process. The doctors do not see her being able to walk for another 3 months.”
Dillard was booked into the Fulton County Jail on multiple charges including reckless driving, failure to maintain lane, improper lane change and serious injury by a motor vehicle, police said.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Woman plummets 30 feet after speeding driver knocks her off overpass, Georgia cops say."