Off-duty cop caught street racing in Athens

By Joe Johnson

An off-diuty police officer recently got caught racing on an Athens street and was let go without even a speeding ticket.

According to an Athens police report, the incident happened on the afternoon of June 28th on the city’s west side.

Officer Shane Pepin said in the report that he was with other officers in the parking of Andy’s Frozen Yogurt on West Broad Street just prior to 4 p.m. when the sound of loud car engines and exhaust caught their attention, followed by a Dodge Charger and Dodge Durango speeding past them.

The officer said that he and Sgt. Tim Johnson caught up with the vehicles and conducted a traffic stop at North Milledge Avenue.

It was subsequently determined that the driver of the Charger was Jenna Marie Grizzell, a 34-year-old officer with the Chamblee Police Department and the Charger was one of her department’s undercover vehicles.

The Durango’s driver was a 28-year-old Athens man who “advised that he was simply trying to catch up to Grizzell so he could, in his words, say hello, and denied having any intentions of racing,” according to the police report.

He and the off duty officer were both allowed to drive away.

Pepin said in the police report that based on his observations and those of five other officers, including Johnson the supervisor, “the actions of both drivers were consistent with racing as defined (by state statute).”

“Neither party was taken into custody at the discretion of Sgt. Tim Johnson,” the officer said in the report.