GCPS Resource Officer Back on Job After Accident

The Gwinnett County Public Schools resource officer who was injured in a traffic accident in Sugar Hill this year is back on the job.

"No stopping me now," Rolando Jimenez wrote Monday (July 29) in a Facebook post as he headed back for "light duty."

The development comes about five months after Jimenez was injured when he was hit by a motorist and then another vehicle outside Lanier High while he was directing traffic.

Since that time, Jimenez has been hospitalized and in various forms of therapy and recovery. He was released from hospitalization in April.

Also, the Gwinnett Braves held a fund-raiser in his honor.

In the accident, Jimenez signaled for the southbound traffic to stop. Jimenez directed northbound vehicles in the left turn lane to turn left into the school property.

The at-fault driver failed to obey Jimenez’s direction to stop and struck Jimenez as the other vehicles were turning left. Jimenez went airborne and landed in the left turn lane for the high school.

The driver then struck a vehicle turning left head-on and pushed that vehicle onto Jimenez. The second vehicle, a red 2012 Ford Focus, was driven by student at Lanier High.

Sydney Smigiel, 22, of Buford was the at-fault driver, police said in February. She was cited for failure to obey a police officer directing traffic.

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