APD fires officer in fatal wreck

An Atlanta police officer involved in a collision last weekend that left a local woman dead was fired Friday, two days after he was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide.

Joshua Sieck, who graduated in June from the police academy, was fired by Chief George Turner effective immediately, according to Atlanta Police Department spokesman Sgt. Curtis Davenport. Further details were not made available.

“We’re surprised at how fast they moved,” said Thomas Cuffie, who represents the family of the victim, Jacqueline Culp. Her funeral was held Friday afternoon.

Sieck, responding to a call for assistance, was traveling west on Cascade Road in unincorporated Fulton County last Saturday afternoon when his cruiser collided with Culp’s BMW.

Cuffie said witnesses told him that Sieck sped through a red light at Cascade and Fairburn roads without checking for oncoming traffic. Culp was hit as she traveled south on Fairburn.

“There are still questions as to whether he had turned on his lights and siren before hitting [Culp],” Cuffie said.

Cuffie said it’s still too early to tell whether Fulton police charged Sieck appropriately. Second-degree vehicular homicide is a misdemeanor but carries the possibility of one year in jail.

Sieck and Culp both had to be extricated from their vehicles after the crash. The 59year-old victim died after being taken to Atlanta Medical Center. Sieck was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and has since been released.

Efforts to reach Sieck for comment Friday were unsuccessful.

Joshua Sieck last Saturday crashed his police cruiser into a BMW driven by Jacqueline Culp, who died after being taken to Atlanta Medical Center.