Atlanta Braves Noon Chop: The Box, The Deal, A Death
Braves relief pitcher
Jason Grilli(center) is attended to by manager
Fredi Gonzalez(left) and team trainer Jeff Porter (right), and teammates after being injured during the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Rockies won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Braves trainer recounts fatal collision with GSP trooper
REBECCA LINDSTROM / WXIZ (11 ALIVE)
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Every year about 300 people die in police chases across the country.
Atlanta Braves head trainer Jeff Porter knows that statistic all too well. His wife Kathy died December 31, 2011. They were headed to the Chick-fil-A Bowl game along with their son and a family friend, when Georgia State Patrol Trooper Donald Crozier made the decision to join a police chase on Interstate 20.
“I remember mom yelling, ‘Jeff look out!’ It was like a split second after she said that, we got hit,” said David Porter as he and his father sat in their living room, reflecting on the day they both lost someone incredibly important to them.
“He ran through red lights, he accelerated, he never slowed down. Hit that intersection in a 35 mile zone, 68 miles an hour,” said Jeff Porter.
In court, Crozier plead guilty to vehicular homicide, reckless driving and violating his oath of office. With seven other at fault accidents on his record, a judge sentenced him to two years behind bars.
“The guy shouldn’t have been driving a Georgia State Trooper car,” insisted Jeff Porter.
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[ Remembering the loss of Jeff Porter’s wife – WXIA is conducting a larger investigative report into the toll that high-speed law enforcement chases are taking. Good on them. Too late for the Porter family. ]