Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

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