Police identify suspect who stole squad car, crashed, rescued from oncoming train

ATLANTA - The man whom police pulled to safety right before a train slammed into the overturned vehicle he was driving, has been identified. Police say 29-year-old Mickal Parker stole a police cruiser then flipped it onto train tracks and responders then pulled him from the vehicle just seconds before the train struck it.

Parker made his first court appearance Monday when the judge set his bond to $18,000. He was charged with theft by taking, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, obstruction, and damage to city property and taken to Fulton County jail.

Fox 5 obtained jaw-dropping video from the Atlanta Police Department which shows how the situation started out with an officer performing a routine traffic stop with an unrelated motorist as investigators say Parker then jumped into the officer's unmanned patrol car and took off. "It’s not safe driving out here with one light or anything," an officer can be heard telling the other driver."  About a second later, the officer looked up and saw someone drive off in his car.

Mickal Parker (Credit: Atlanta Police Department) (Supplied)

"Yo! Back up! Get out of the car!" the officer can be heard yelling in the footage.

The officer then appears to get on his radio to alert others.

"Someone just got in my patrol car," the officer announced.

Atlanta Police Department's air unit spotted and tracked the stolen vehicle from overhead as the car speed on Greenbriar Parkway just after 2 a.m. on Saturday.

The suspect then drove the car onto the train tracks off of McDonough Boulevard before it flipped over.

"Train! Train!," the responder officers can be heard yelling as multiple people worked together to smash the window and drag Parker from the vehicle.  The moment they got him out, the Norfolk Southern Locomotive smashed into the side of the overturned cop car.

Police said Parker had minor injuries from the car flipping and no officers were injured.