On Wednesday November 1, 2023 at approximately 8:27 a.m., an accident occurred at the intersection of Highway 411 and Mathis Road in Rome, Georgia. Three vehicles were involved in the accident which resulted in an occupied vehicle becoming fully engulfed in flames.
Officer Dow Turrentine was assisting another officer that had conducted a traffic stop nearby when he heard the multi-vehicle accident occur. Turrentine raced down the hill and roadway to see an SUV had rolled south onto Mathis Road and was starting to smoke.
As Officer Turrentine watched the fire quickly gain momentum, he and two Good Samaritans worked to rescue Silver Creek resident Samantha Bostick and her son, Liam, who were trapped. Once freed from the burning vehicle, the injured driver was moved to a patrol car while awaiting EMS to arrive as Officer Evan Roden consoled the crying child.
Moments after the driver and passenger were removed from the vehicle, it became fully involved with fire. Personnel from the Rome-Floyd Fire Department arrived on site to extinguish the fire. One of the Good Samaritans has been identified as Christopher Jones of Rome.
Bostick is currently recovering at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome after undergoing knee surgery. Her son, Liam, is home after being cleared by emergency room physicians.
Although the personnel we employ as representatives of the Rome Police Department are trained to respond and react in dangerous and life-threatening situations such as the accident described, we still are amazed and grateful for the immediate call-to-action and level of response that our officers present.
