Here's what authorities know so far:

Around 1 a.m., Weinmann and Betts responded to a suspicious vehicle call along the interstate near Camp Creek Parkway. The driver of the vehicle, police say, started a scuffle with the officers that spilled into traffic.

Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright said the driver of the minivan "saw the blue lights, and the patrol cars were off the roadway, parked in the grass."

"She saw the lights and was moving to the left in order to give [the officers] some room, not knowing they were in the interstate," Wright said. "She came up on all three in the interstate and hit the two police officers and the violator."

The woman stopped immediately after hitting the men, and was sideswiped on the passenger side by another vehicle. Immediately after that, a third vehicle struck the rear of the minivan. That driver, from North Carolina, stopped.

Wright said the second vehicle that hit at least one of the men is believed to be a brown, mid- to late-'80s Honda Accord driven by a black female with medium-length hair and wearing "some type of lab coat or smock, white in color."

He said the Honda driver "stopped, got out of her vehicle, and during the commotion of everything at the scene, at some point, she got back into her vehicle and drove off."

Wright said no charges will be filed against the 56-year-old driver of the minivan.

"She was doing exactly what she should do when she came up on the blue lights," he said. "It was just a tragic set of circumstances."

East Point Police Chief Frank Brown said it's the first time his department has lost an officer on duty since 1969.

"We know these things are apt to happen, but this department has been very lucky," Brown said. "This is an unfortunate accident."

At the hospital, a dozen or so grief-stricken officers huddled together, paced the hallway and sipped coffee. When Hilliard arrived, she hugged Weinmann's wife, and everybody gathered inside a private room to pray. Weinmann and his wife have three children.

"We're not 100 percent sure what happened, because Weinmann has been drifting in and out," Gibson said Sunday, standing near the intensive care unit waiting room. "But it makes no difference whether this was on 285, Main Street or Jones Street. With a confrontation along the highway, this could happen anywhere."

Gibson, meanwhile, called Betts an "excellent officer" whose death hit the department hard.

"We are aware of the dangers of this job, but we don't think about it," he said. "We are professionals, and we will attempt to serve this city, and perform the duties we are sworn to uphold."

Officers mourn East Point colleague killed on duty
New father had just begun his overtime shift

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 12/24/02 ]

By CHARLES YOO
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

Oficer Christopher R. Betts (left) and James Weinmann

A 2-month-old baby boy and a house he recently bought in Newnan were plenty of motivation for Betts. So there he was, half past midnight on Sunday morning, patrolling the streets in a cruiser and working overtime three days before Christmas.

But he soon radioed the headquarters about a suspicious man walking along I-285 off Camp Creek Parkway near an apartment complex. Shortly after, Betts and another officer and a man they were struggling with were all struck by cars.

Betts and a Riverdale man police identified as Renard Banks, 34, were killed. Officer James Weinmann -- Betts' best friend on the force -- suffered several broken bones in his legs and pelvis in the accident.

On Monday, family and friends were mourning Betts' death while colleagues looked for clues to what happened.

Police said Banks had a record of arrests, from obstruction of a police officer to domestic violence to making terroristic threats.

Around 1 a.m. Sunday, Banks resisted arrest and started a scuffle with Betts that spilled into traffic, said Detective Russell Popham. A few minutes later, Weinmann arrived. The three tussled.

A woman driving a minivan hit the men, throwing Betts in the air and onto a farther lane. A dark-colored Honda driven by a woman struck Betts again.

Although the driver of the minivan stopped, police Monday night were still looking for the driver of the second vehicle, believed to be a brown, late-'80s Honda Accord. The driver is described as a black female with shoulder-length hair and wearing a white lab coat or smock.

Weinmann, 27, was recovering at Atlanta Medical Center, said his family through Officer Eric Heinze.

"He's in high spirits," said Heinze. "He's recovering well."

Weinmann has already gone through two surgeries with another expected to be scheduled after Betts' funeral.

An Ohio native, Betts spent six years in the Army and ended up at Fort McPherson where he was a military police officer. Two years ago, he landed a $37,000-a-year job in East Point, which is manned by some 130 officers.

Six months later, the department hired Weinmann, also a military police officer from Fort McPherson.

Since then, five friends from Fort McPherson, including 26-year-old Heinze, have joined the force, all in their 20s and with similar military police backgrounds.

Betts was already a National Guardsman, but volunteered to be part of the department's SWAT team, which requires extra training and testing. His acceptance letter was typed Thursday, said Lt. Donald Chase, who hired Betts for the department.

"He worked hard. He looked forward to coming to work," Chase said.

The night Betts was killed, he had volunteered to work extra hours after his normal shift had ended at midnight.

"Around holidays, a lot of officers try to pick up overtime," said Capt. Patricia Boyce. "He had a 2-month-old boy."

Betts was a pro at helping those in need, colleagues said. Last month, Betts was one of a trio of officers lauded in a letter to the editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. An Atlanta women said Betts and two other officers came to her aid after she had a flat at I-285 near Camp Creek Parkway.

The city of East Point has set up a trust fund to help the Betts and Weinmann families through the Bank of America.

Betts' funeral will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Northside Drive in Atlanta. On Thursday, a prayer service is slated at Carmichael-Hemperly Funeral Home in Peachtree City.

Hit-and-Run Sketch to Be Released

Web Editor: Ian Stinson
Last Modified: 12/24/2002 11:11:50 AM

A composite sketch is expected to be released Tuesday of a hit-and-run driver involved in the death of an East Point police officer.

"She said something to the effect of, 'Oh my God, I hit him,' and then she left the scene,"
Lt. Russell Popham told 11Alive.

Police said the woman, in a mid-to-late 1980s brown Honda Accord, stopped long enough to get out of her car, but didn't stay.

Officer Christopher Betts, 26, and 34-year-old suspect Renard Banks were killed when they were hit by three cars on I-285 at Camp Creek Parkway Sunday morning. Betts' partner -- James Weinmann -- was seriously injured and remained hospitalized Tuesday.

Betts died while scuffling with Banks along the highway. Three cars hit Officer Betts, authorities said.

Officers said the driver is believed to be an African-American woman wearing a white lab coat. She was additionally described as possibly being in her mid-30s with shoulder-length hair.

Officer From Chattanooga Injured At East Point, Ga.

The Chattanoogan.com posted December 24, 2002

An East Point, Ga. officer who was seriously hurt in an incident in which another policeman was killed is from Chattanooga.

James Weinmann is the son of Mike and Judy Weinmann of King Arthur Road in Chattanooga.

Mrs. Weinmann graduated from Birchwood School.

Mr. Weinmann is a member of the Department of Transportation Security Force at Lovell Field.

Mr. and Mrs. Weinmann are members of Bayside Baptist Chruch.

Doctors have informed Mr. and Mrs. Weinmann that they will have to wait for swelling to go down before they are able to work on the officer's pelvis.

Officer Weinmann and another officer stopped a motorist beside I-20 at the Atlanta suburb. The man began fighting with the two officers, and all three rolled into the freeway and were hit by oncoming vehicles. The other officer and the motorist were killed.

Police searching for motorist in fatal accident involving cop

Associated Press

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday, December 24, 2002.

  EAST POINT -- Police were searching Monday for a motorist who fled the scene of a three-vehicle accident on Atlanta's perimeter highway that killed an East Point police officer.
   Officer Christopher Betts, 26, was killed Sunday morning when he and his partner, officer James Weinmann, 27, stumbled into oncoming traffic during a scuffle with a suspect on Interstate 285.
   Two vehicles struck the men and a third vehicle hit one of the other vehicles, killing Betts and the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Renard Banks. Weinmann was reportedly in stable condition Monday, after undergoing surgery on his left leg and pelvis. He was unable to give any details about the accident.
   ''He didn't even remember what happened to him,'' said Capt. Patricia Boyce.
   East Point police officers mourned the death of their colleague, who was the first officer in the department killed in the line of duty since 1969.
   ''We know these things are apt to happen, but this department has been very lucky,'' said Chief Frank Brown. ''This is an unfortunate accident.''
   The city of East Point has set up a trust fund for Weinmann and Betts' family, which includes his wife, Shannon, and seven-week-old son, Trenton.
   A prayer service for Betts is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m, and his funeral will take place Sunday afternoon.
   Betts and Weinmann were friends from Ohio, who had joined the department after serving in the Army at nearby Fort McPherson. They each had about two years experience as police officers and were members of the East Point SWAT team.
   The two were called to investigate a report of a suspicious vehicle on Sunday around 1 a.m.
   Banks, whose criminal record included arrests for domestic abuse and battery, began fighting with the officers, police said. The scuffle spilled out into the roadway, where they were struck by a minivan, police said.
   Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright said the driver of the minivan ''saw blue lights, and the patrol cars were off the roadway, parked in the grass.''
   ''She saw the lights, and was moving to the left in order to give (the officers) some room, not knowing they were in the interstate,'' Wright said, adding there are no street lights in the area.
   The woman stopped immediately but was sideswiped on the passenger side by another vehicle. A third vehicle struck the rear of the minivan, and also stopped.
   The second vehicle, described as a mid- to late-1980's brown Honda Accord with possible damage to its front and left side, sped away. An officer spoke briefly to its driver, whom he described as a black female in her early to mid-30s, with medium-length hair, wearing a white lab coat or smock.
   No charges are expected to be filed against the other two drivers.
   ''The other drivers did what they were supposed to do,'' but the hit-and-run driver may face charges for leaving the scene of an accident, Wright said.

Police Release 'Hit-and-Run Sketch'

East Point police Officer Christopher Betts East Point police Officer James Weinmann A composite sketch of the alleged hit-and-run driver.

Reported By: Jaye Watson
Last Modified: 12/24/2002 5:56:42 PM

A composite sketch was released Tuesday of a hit-and-run driver involved in the death of an East Point police officer.

"She said something to the effect of, 'Oh my God, I hit him,' and then she left the scene,"
Ltn. Russell Popham told 11Alive.

Police said the woman, in a mid-to-late 1980s brown Honda Accord, stopped long enough to get out of her car, but didn't stay.

Officer Christopher Betts, 26, and 34-year-old suspect Renard Banks were killed when they were hit by three cars on I-285 at Camp Creek Parkway Sunday morning. Betts' partner -- James Weinmann -- was seriously injured and remained hospitalized Tuesday.

Betts died while scuffling with Banks along the highway. Three cars hit Officer Betts, authorities said.

Officers said the driver is believed to be an African-American woman wearing a white lab coat. She was additionally described as possibly being in her mid-30s with shoulder-length hair.

She was believed to be driving the second car that hit the officers.

Bob Betts, the felled officer’s father, issued a plea for the woman to turn herself in, “To the person in the second vehicle that left the scene of the accident, we are pleading…that they turn themselves in so they can finish this investigation and so we can get closure as a family, so we can bury our son.”

The officer’s funeral is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday afternoon at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Atlanta.

Police seek driver who hit officers, suspect

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 12/25/02

Special Sketch of woman sought by police

East Point police Tuesday released a composite sketch of a woman they say fled the scene of an accident that killed an officer and a suspect he and his partner were trying to arrest.

Officer Christopher R. Betts, 26, and Renard Banks, 34, were killed and Officer James Weinmann was injured about 1 a.m. Sunday after they were struck by two vehicles -- a minivan and a car -- as they scuffled on I-285 near Camp Creek Parkway.

The struggle had spilled onto a unlighted section of the highway. The officers and Banks were first struck by a minivan. The 56-year-old driver of the van stopped immediately after hitting the men. She was not charged.

But police say the driver of the second vehicle, which hit at least one of the men, stopped after the accident and then drove off.

That driver was believed to be a black female with medium-length hair who was wearing a white lab coat or smock. She was driving a brown, mid- to late-'80s Honda Accord.

Driver sought in hit and run Sketch of woman sought by police 12/30/02 By Bill Baldowski Neighbor Senior Staff Writer  As of Friday, East Point Police officers were continuing their search for the hit-and-run driver who struck and killed an East Point officer and a suspect he was attempting to arrest while severally injuring a second East Point officer. According to East Point Police Lt. Russell Popham, a member of the department’s detective division, the release of an artist’s drawing of the hit-and-run suspect last week has prompted a number of telephone calls to the department concerning the accident and the search for the driver of a brown, mid.-to-late 1980s Honda Accord, which stopped briefly after hitting at least one of the three men but then sped away. The accident, which occurred about 12:57 a.m. Dec. 22 on Interstate 285 near Camp Creek Parkway, took the lives of officer Christopher Betts, 26, and the man he was scuffling with on the highway, identified as Renard Banks, 34, while critically injuring East Point officer James Weinmann, 27. The death of officer Betts was the first East Point police officer killed in the line of duty since 1969 when officer Earl Sykes was killed in a motorcycle accident near what is now Sykes Park. “We have had some leads to come in and we are taking all these seriously,” Popham said. “We have had people to call following the release of the artist’s rendering of the driver of the Honda Accord and we are taking each seriously.” According to East Point Police Capt. Patricia Boyce, media relations specialist for the department and coordinator of its Weed and Seed program, Betts was responding to a report of a suspicious person walking on the I-285 northbound. Officer Weinmann was called to back him up. When Betts attempted to place Banks in handcuffs in front of his police car, which was in the emergency lane, a scuffle ensued which spilled out into the first lane of traffic. The men were struck first by a mini-van, driven by a 56-year-old female, who immediately stopped. No charges have been filed against her, Ms. Boyce said. East Point police ask anyone who may have seen the accident or have further details about the hit-and-run driver to contact them at (404) 761-2177.  That impact pushed Betts into a second lane of traffic where he was hit by the Honda Accord and drug for a distance along the pavement. According to Ms. Boyce, the driver of the Accord, described as a black female with shoulder-.length hair, stopped after the impact and got out of her automobile but then climbed back behind the wheel and sped off. According to reports, she was wearing a white lab coat or smock. Weinmann sustained numerous injuries resulting from the impact, including a fractured leg and crushed pelvis. Ms. Boyce said he has been removed from intensive care and put into a private room but it is not known how long he will be hospitalized. Weinmann was scheduled for surgery last Friday but canceled it to attend Betts funeral, Ms. Boyce said. He leaves behind a wife and young son. A trust fund for both officers has been established at the Bank of America and contributions may be made at any branch of the bank, she said. Reward posted in search for driver who hit officer [ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 1/3/03 ] By BILL MONTGOMERY Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer   Sketch of woman sought as witness. East Point police hope a $6,000 reward from Gov. Roy Barnes' office will lead to the identification of a woman who witnessed the deaths of Officer Christopher Betts and a pedestrian on I-285 last month. Betts had stopped the pedestrian walking on the interstate and the man resisted arrest, beginning a struggle that spilled into traffic. Dozens of tips have failed to identify the woman in a Honda Accord who stopped briefly after striking Betts and fellow Officer James Weinmann as they tusseled with Renard Banks around 1 a.m., on the side of I-285. The woman drove away. Another motorist who struck the three men stopped and cooperated with police and was not charged. Weinmann, Betts' best friend, was released from a hospital Monday after treatment for multiple injuries. "At the very least, the person we're looking for faces charges of leaving the scene of an accident," said police Lt. Cliff Gibson. The fleeing driver, a black woman with shoulder- length hair and wearing a white lab coat or smock, was driving a brown, late '80s Honda Accord. Police believe the Honda has damage on the left front side and undercarriage. Reward Offered in Officer's Death East Point police Officer Christopher Betts Sketch of woman wanted in death of officer. Web Editor: Tracey Christensen Last Modified: 1/3/2003 5:57:24 PM The Georgia governor's office posted a reward on Friday for information leading to the arrest of a female driver who fled after striking an East Point police officer. Officer Christopher Betts died after at least three cars hit him when he and another officer struggled with a pedestrian on the side of I-285 on Dec. 22. The pedestrian also died in the accident. While two cars involved in the accident stopped, a third did not. The woman who fled the scene wore a white lab coat, according to witnesses. The new reward for information on her identity totals $6,000 in the case. A second officer, James Weinmann, is recovering from his injuries.

Mystery motorist may be key to tragedy

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 3/9/03 ]
Joey Ledford - Staff

Officer James Weinmann doesn't remember a thing about the night he and his best friend were fighting a crazed pedestrian in the middle of the poorly lighted Perimeter.

"I don't even remember going to work that night, let alone all the things that happened at the hospital," said the 27-year-old East Point patrolman, whose severe injuries included a concussion when all three men were hit by vehicles.

"Of three people at the scene, two are deceased and the third has no recollection of it," said Georgia state Trooper Bryan Clanton, who is still investigating the Dec. 22, 2002, tragedy.

Weinmann and Officer Chris Betts shared an Ohio childhood, and Weinmann was Betts' best man at his wedding. They were also, as Weinmann put it, "battle buddies," bunkmates at Fort McPherson during their military days.

Both patrolled for the city of East Point, and though they weren't partners --- they drove separate cruisers --- Weinmann was there to back up Betts when his friend encountered a hostile man walking on I-285 after midnight.

Betts had fought with and arrested Renard Banks, 34, of Riverdale, before, perhaps even twice, said Weinmann. Weinmann himself knows from reading Banks' arrest records that he once arrested him, too. On this night, Banks was high on cocaine, according to later blood tests.

The three men were fighting in the right lane of northbound I-285 at the Camp Creek Parkway exit when three vehicles came along. A Ford Windstar driven by an Atlanta woman started to change lanes to avoid the men, but struck Betts.

Then a second vehicle, believed to be a late 1980s-to-early-1990s Honda Accord --- but possibly a Civic --- struck Weinmann and Banks in the right lane and then traveled into the second lane, hitting Betts again. A third vehicle missed the men but hit the Windstar.

Betts and Banks were dead at the scene, said Clanton. Weinmann suffered a broken tibia, femur and pelvis.

Chillingly, the driver of the Honda spoke to one of the officers called to the scene and revealed she had hit someone. The officer asked her to wait until he had seen to Weinmann's injuries, but in the confusion, she got into her car and drove away.

Clanton describes her as a woman in her 30s, around 5-foot-5 or 5-foot-6, with long hair. She was wearing a white lab coat, smock or possibly a nursing uniform, he said.

"She's a huge piece of the puzzle that's missing," said the trooper.

Clanton believes Betts was killed by the initial impact, but others, like his superior officer, East Point Lt. Charles Pritchard, aren't so sure.

"I'm almost led to believe he was trying to get up when he was struck the second time," he said.

Why would someone who had already owned up to what was probably an unavoidable accident climb back into her car and drive away?

"It will be something stupid, like a [prior] failure to appear, a suspended license, or something else," said Pritchard.

Clanton agrees. "She was either DUI or had an outstanding warrant," he said.

He has looked at 21 cars that people believed might have been involved. He has pored over 118 pieces of evidence from the scene, including Weinmann's wristwatch, found near the median wall.

Betts' family deserves closure, said Pritchard. And the officers want to know all of the facts about the loss of their colleague and the serious injuries to Weinmann, who is not due to return to duty until October.

"Basically, everything we have is still a theory," said Clanton. "I don't like having theories. I like having facts."

The Windstar driver, very distraught from the beginning, faces no charges. But officers won't say that about the driver of the Honda.

"I was trying to empathize with her," said Clanton. "But it's been too long now. If we do locate her, warrants will be taken."

--- Anyone with information is being asked to call either the State Patrol at 404-624-6077, or East Point police at 404-763-8477.