A man pulled over for suspected DUI was already in handcuffs when Atlanta police said he tried to make a run for it, leaping over an interstate bridge and falling at least 50 feet into the woods below.
Atlanta police said the Friday morning traffic stop was an example of how a seemingly routine operation can, in an instant, become dangerous and unpredictable. According to police, the driver, 29-year-old Kevin Bynum, was cooperating when he was first pulled over on I-75 near the Northside Drive exit around 3 a.m.
In body camera footage released by the police department, a traffic officer can be seen asking Bynum to perform a series of commands during a field sobriety test. He failed the test, according to police, and the officer told him he was being arrested for DUI.
Editor’s note: The following video contains offensive language. Viewer discretion is advised.
The officer had placed Bynum in handcuffs and was searching his pockets when he took off running, the video shows. Bynum made it to the end of the sound barrier on the Northside Drive exit ramp before disappearing off the side of the ramp.
The officer, who was in close pursuit, seemed shocked when he looked over the edge.
“He just jumped over the ramp,” the officer tells radio dispatch in the video. “He landed ... Jesus, radio, it’s like a 60-foot drop. He’s down on the ground. I can’t even tell you where he’s at or where he’s going to come out.”
Bynum was eventually located in the wooded area beneath the interstate with the help of backup from Atlanta police and the Georgia State Patrol. Police said the officers carried him out of the woods still in his handcuffs, and he was stable when he was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.
“Fortunately, the suspect had only minor injuries but could have been killed by his reckless actions,” a police spokesperson said in a news release.
Bynum is facing charges of DUI, reckless driving, speeding, driving without a license and obstruction. He was expected to be booked into the Fulton County Jail once released from the hospital.
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