A woman who was struck by a Hinesville police patrol cruiser has been identified.

Iris Cooley, 26, of Atlanta, was staying in a hotel on East Oglethorpe Highway near Pizza Hut in Hinesville. She was standing in the center turning lane shortly after 9 p.m. on a rainy night when the Hinesville police car, which was trying to turn into a hotel, struck her, according to Georgia State Patrol Trooper Lyle Thurmond.

Cooley was taken to Liberty Regional Medical Center, then transferred to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, where she was listed in critical condition Thursday night.

Thurmond said the woman, who was wearing a pink jacket and gray slacks when the accident happened. The officer was trying to turn into the hotel as part of his patrol, the trooper said.  

According to Thurmond, the officer did not immediately see the woman. When he spotted her, Thurmond said, the officer attempted to avoid hitting the woman.  

When the patrol car struck the woman, she rolled on top of the hood and struck the windshield and the driver’s-side mirror and search light, damaging them. The woman landed on the westbound side of the highway.  

Thurmond said rain and glare from the lights of oncoming vehicles appear to have been a factor in the accident. The officer was not injured.