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Driver Who Hit, Pinned Police Officer Under Vehicle Sentenced for Driving Under Influence

The man who caused a crash that left a Columbus police officer pinned under a car was sentenced to prison Thursday.

The man who caused a crash that left a Columbus police officer pinned under a car was sentenced to prison Thursday.

Jarrett Lumpkin admits he was under the influence of marijuana at the time.

There are some things Officer Judy Lawrence remembers about that evening two years ago when her life changed.

"I remember the call going out,” she said. “I remember pulling up to the scene.”

Others, thankfully, she does not.

"I do not remember the impact.  And when I came to, I was under the car," she said.

It was January 2, 2014, in the middle of a fierce snowstorm. She had stopped to help a driver stranded along I-71. A witness told police what happened next.

"A Columbus police officer is trapped under a car! She was trying to help somebody and another car hit the car she was going up to and she got pinned under the car."

Her first memory from under that car is a stunned sense of gratitude.

"Thank you Lord, I'm alive,” she said. “I knew my leg was broken because it hurt really bad. But it was amazing because I was able to talk okay."

With remarkable calm, she radioed for help from underneath the car

 “I think I'm 71 southbound near Weber. I'm trapped underneath the car."

"Everybody jokes around and they say ‘how were you so calm?’ I say, well, my training helped. But also God was with me,” she said.

While waiting for emergency responders, witnesses tried to figure out how to free her.

"They asked if they should jack up the car and I told them no, because I was breathing. They tried to see if they could pull me out, I told them to stop because I was- my leg was caught," she said.

Her husband, now retired from Columbus Police, remembers getting the news every officer's spouse dreads.

"You know, a million things go through your mind,” Dave Lawrence said. “You think about your family and it's just one of those things."

Lawrence would be okay, but she wouldn't be the same. Surgeries and two years of physical therapy followed. Her beloved career as a street cop was over. She lives with pain daily.

"She'll always have a reminder of that accident,” Dave said. “But I think through the years we have friends on the police department who were killed. And that could have been you. And you realize that. And we're just so thankful that she's still here."

Thursday, the driver who hit her was sentenced for aggravated vehicular assault and driving under the influence of marijuana.

Lumpkin stood before Lawrence and a judge and apologized.

"It wasn't intentional or being malicious. I did slip on ice. The weather was horrible. But through all this I understand that some of my actions need to change," Lumpkin said.

Lumpkin could have faced up to five years in prison.

Lawrence agreed to a lesser sentence of 1- year prison, with 5 years of supervised probation, during which he will have to remain drug and alcohol free.

Lawrence says her faith is what allowed her to survive, and what's allowing her to move on.

"God was with me,” she said. “I'm a Christian, and I'm an example of a miracle."

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