A Georgia police department enacted a new “common sense” policy and counseled an officer after a horrifying traffic stop. “He just left us out there on the side of the road like we were bags of trash,” said Debra Mobley-Sadler Sims, 71, in a May 14 interview with WTOC 11. Debra Mobley- Sadler Sims and her husband, Bobby. (Photos: X/Lee Merritt) Sims is a disabled Army veteran who was driving along Highway 196 in Hinesville with her husband, Bobby, a 75-year-old amputee, when they were pulled over just after 2:30 a.m. on April 27. ‘It Was Intentional’: Arizona Woman Accused of Hitting, Killing Man While on a Date After He Accused Her of Catfishing Him Officer Todd Parmentier spotted the car and ran its plate through the state’s CJIS/GCIC network, which showed the vehicle was allegedly uninsured. Sims insisted she had insurance through USAA, but before she could show proof — and even before she learned why she had been stopped — Parmentier had already called a tow truck to impound her car.  “There’s a tow truck en route, and you’re gonna get towed. So are you gonna have time to have somebody come and get you?” he told the shaken couple in bodycam footage released by the Hinesville Police Department. What happened next sparked a public outcry. “I don’t have anybody to come get me,” said Sims. “My husband’s got one leg. Can you take us and drop us off?” “No ma’am,” Parmentier responded. “This is your opportunity to have somebody to call somebody to come get you a ride, Lyft, Uber, something.” Disabled Couple Says Officer Left Them Stranded in the Cold In the bodycam footage, Sims told the officer she couldn’t afford a rideshare and would not be able to push her husband home in his wheelchair along a dark highway in their rural south Georgia community. It was nearing 3 a.m., and the temperature was dipping into the low 50s. “He pulled off and left us. I was like ‘wow.’ I serve my country well, and this is how I’m gonna be treated,” she told WTOC 11. “He helped Bobby out of the car, so it’s not like he didn’t know because I told him my husband hadn’t walked in two years.” ‘Didn’t Want my Kind Living Here’: 80-Year-Old Veteran Viciously Attacked in Florida Hate Crime, People Say Trump’s Rhetoric Is to Blame A review of the incident by the Hinesville Police Department determined that Parmentier’s actions were within the law, but admitted he “fell short,” and that “insufficient consideration was given to the occupants’ age, medical conditions, and the late-night circumstances surrounding the encounter.” The Department announced that a new policy will be enacted requiring officers to “take reasonable steps, when practical, to ensure motorists have safe transportation or other appropriate accommodations following enforcement or towing actions.” Police Department Admits Officer “Fell Short” After Public Backlash “While officers are entrusted to enforce the law and follow departmental policy, we also have a responsibility to exercise common sense, compassion, sound judgment, and reasonable care for the well-being of the people we encounter,” the statement read. “In this instance, we recognize that responsibility was not met to the standard our community expects or that we expect of ourselves.” Since the incident, USAA has confirmed in writing that there was no lapse in Sims’ coverage, and it was active at the time of the traffic stop. Sims had shown Parmentier during the stop she is registered as a co-owner of the car, and the insurance was in her name. In the end, Sims’ citation was dismissed, the towing fee refunded, the officer was counseled, and the couple received an apology. But as Sims put it to WTOC 11, “once you ring a bell, you can’t unring it.” She expressed hope that their harrowing experience would lead to improved officer training under the updated policy. “The only thing you can do is train, so hopefully they will train.” ‘Like We Were Bags of Trash’: Georgia Police Left Disabled Veteran and Her Amputee Husband Stranded on the Side of the Road in the Cold After Traffic Stop ...read more read less