Sandy Springs woman Janelle Hartl to sue city after being clipped by officer

A Sandy Springs woman is suing the city, claiming she suffered debilitating injuries when a police cruiser clipped her nearly two years ago.

Janelle Hartl told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik it happened as she walked home from the bus stop on Glenridge Drive, near Roswell Road.

"I've been in extreme pain, doing physical therapy," she told Petchenik.

Petchenik filed an Open Records request and received the dash-cam video of the incident. It shows Officer Thomas Dudek driving on Glendridge Drive. The video shows him pass Hartl, clipping her, then stopping to check on her.

"I'm fine," Hartl can be heard saying to the officer, after refusing medical treatment. The video shows Dudek requesting an EMT to check her out to be sure.

Petchenik also obtained the inteal affairs investigative reports stemming from the incident. They said Dudek was searching for a hit-and-run suspect at the time of the incident.

"He was watching west bound traffic for the suspect vehicle and checking his MCT (Mobile Computer Terminal) for updates which caused him drift into the shoulder," the report said.

While the report pointed out that Hartl was violating the law by walking in the bike lane and not utilizing a sidewalk across the street, inteal affairs investigators determined the accident was "preventable," and Dudek received a written sanction as discipline. The report said Dudek had not been involved in any other accidents prior to this one.

Hartl told Petchenik her medical bills have piled up because she has compression fractures in her back and other injuries.

Within days of the incident, Hartl said she hired an attoey and put the city on notice of her intent to sue. Nearly two years later, she told Petchenik she hasn't gotten any answers.

"Responsibility needs to be taken," Hartl said.

This week, Hartl hired a new attoey who told Petchenik he believes the city is liable for what happened.

"We know it's an accident. It's just that we need help from the city of Sandy Springs … to get her back to her normal life," attoey Evan Kaine said. "This is a clear case of a wrong that we're just trying to make right."

Petchenik reached out to Sandy Springs officials for comment on the lawsuit and the lack of response Hartl claims she's getting, but as of Friday afteoon, he hadn't heard back from anyone with the city.