Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

AROUND THE COUNTRY

AROUND THE COUNTRY ATLANTA, GA. Georgia State Trooper Jimmy Cenescar was killed in a crash while pursuing a motorcycle on I-85 North. ATLANTA, GA. - Georgia State Trooper Jimmy Cenescar was killed in a crash on Sunday January 28, in Gwinnett County while in pursuit of a motorcycle. “As a young public safety officer, he was at the beginning of a life with years of experiences and opportunities that lay ahead and a career dedicated to protecting others,” Gov. Brian Kemp said. According to the Department of Public Safety, Cenescar was attempting to stop a motorcycle for a traffic violation on I-85 North near Old Peachtree Road. A Georgia crash report offers new details into the chase that ended in Trooper Jimmy Cenescar swerving off the road in the deadly wreck. It details how Cenescar maneuvered to avoid putting other drivers in danger as the motorcycle “split” two lanes to get away. According to the report, as the motorcycle was directly ahead of the chasing trooper, it suddenly took the dangerous “split maneuver.” Trooper Cenescar initially attempted to continue the pursuit; the report notes, “However, both lanes were occupied by motorists traveling north.” Cenescar “took evasive actions to avoid these vehicles” and “lost control and began rotating clockwise traveling towards the east shoulder.” At that point, the trooper veered off the roadway, eventually going down an embankment and hitting trees and drainage rocks. Gwinnett County Fire/EMS arrived on the scene to pull Trooper Cenescar from his vehicle and perform lifesaving measures but tragically, the trooper was pronounced deceased at Northside Gwinnett Hospital. According to the report, the motorcycle continued fleeing northbound and has not yet been identified. Trooper Cenescar had been with GSP since Jan. 2023 and was a graduate of the 114th Trooper School, DSP said. In 2021, 11Alive and other news organizations reported when he helped save a man’s life as an Atlanta Police Department officer. Atlanta News spoke with a man who said he witnessed the bike going in and out of traffic and a trooper trying to stop him. “I looked at my son and I said TROOPER JIMMY CENESCAR look it’s a chase and he looked over there and the next thing you know all you see is just debris from his car just flying in the air,” said Chris Davis. “You could see something was different his lights and sirens were on. He’s weaving in and out of traffic and then his car goes airborne with all the debris.” “I’ll be honest, I’m from Ohio and I’m a former police officer myself, and just seeing that my heart automatically went to his family and just thinking he’s just doing his job and it’s tough out here being a police officer these days. I just felt bad for him, and then, of course, I’m nervous because I’m in the car on the same freeway, and these chases happen all the time. Too frequent to be honest with you,” Davis said. 36 The Blues - February ‘24

The Blues - February ‘24 37