Officer still behind the wheel after several high-profile wrecks - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Officer still behind the wheel after several high-profile wrecks

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APD Officer Gary Price has been involved in four crashes that resulted in two fatalities and 10 injuries.

He's now been ticketed, disciplined, suspended, transferred, and the city's settled out of court because of these wrecks, but he's still driving the streets.

This most recent crash raises even more questions for folks in the community, especially the sister of Billy Klewitz, who was one of those two fatalities.

Breanna Klewitz can't believe it's happened again. It's been five years since her brother Billy was hit and killed by a man being chased by Officer Gary Price. 

"After Billy's crash five years ago Officer Price was put on desk duty, and not four months later once he got off desk duty. He was involved in another crash and another crash after that. I don't know how other employers look at things, but three strikes is usually you're out," said  Breanna Klewitz.

And now this fourth crash involving Price raises even more questions for Breanna. "Why is he still on the road? Why are we still letting this happen? Why are we as a community letting this happen?"

Joanne Parker saw Saturday's crash. She was stopped at the light on Jefferson Street. "He came straight through the light and he just hit her. There were no sirens, he just had blue lights on. He didn't slow down coming through the intersection or anything."

Parker rushed to the overturned truck to help the 22-year-old driver, Dmitria Kennard, the front seat passenger, 23-year-old Shykem Nix and the four children who were inside.

Officer Price was ticketed for a red light violation and Kennard was cited for child restraint. Both violations are pending. And the crash is under investigation.

"Why isn't someone else investigating this instead of their own. Something doesn't seem right, something smells wrong, something smells fishy. And I know I'm not the only one in this town that thinks there's something fishy going on," said Parker. 

Breanna Klewitz says all she can do now is voice her opinion, which she hopes will trigger some sort of action. 

We've requested an interview with APD Chief John Proctor, but haven't heard back from APD.