'I didn't want to take nobody's kid away from them': Officer recounts being run over by teen driver

Officer recovering after being run over teenage car thief, police say

A College Park police officer is recovering after a teenager, who was driving a stolen car, ran over him, investigators say. The officer says he had the opportunity to reach for his gun but decided not to.

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - Speaking from his hospital bed, College Park Police Officer Ivory Morris recounted the thoughts that raced through his head when he said a teenager driving a stolen car ran him over on Sullivan Road early Saturday morning.

"You know, I was thinking when I was on top of that car, I had the other hand free to reach for the gun, but I said I don't want to pull it. It wasn't the use of force, I was thinking they was somebody's kids. I was like I don't want to hurt this kid. I didn't want to take nobody's kid away from them," Morris said.

The officer's supervisor, Sgt. Jean Robinson, recorded the conversation. She wasn't surprised by Officer Morris' reasoning even though, she said, he had the right to use deadly force.

"And cared enough about this juvenile, despite his own life being at risk, to save his life, and didn't want to take this child's life," Sgt. Robinson said.

Officer Morris was working an off-duty job in the area when he got an alert from a FLOCK camera that a stolen vehicle was nearby. The vehicle took off when he spotted the SUV at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel. The officer approached a 15-year-old boy who was walking away from the car. That's when the stolen vehicle returned.

"At that point, the young male actually jumped on the hood of the car and investigator Morris was able to catch him," said the sergeant, "but at that point, the suspect told the driver to ‘go, go, go.’ The driver then fled at a high rate of speed causing the officer to fall off the vehicle."

The driver then ran over the officer and teen and fled. Medics rushed them to Grady Memorial Hospital where Officer Morris underwent surgery for a broken leg. The teen also suffered severe injuries.

Sgt. Robinson believes an angel was looking over the officer and teens that night.

"Because he saved that young man's life," Robinson said, "and he didn't take that young man's life and he very well could've."

An online account has been set up to help offset the medical expenses for the officer. Anyone who would like to donate can do so at https://gofund.me/bc63376b.

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