CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A man is facing over 20 charges after leading Clayton County Sheriff's deputies on a pursuit that ended in two different crashes.
The Clayton County Sheriff's Office said that the incident stems from two traffic stops that happened days ago involving the same license plate number. According to a release, the first stop was initiated on Saturday, and it involved a Gold Toyota Avalon, where the vehicle sped away. The second happened the following day, and the car left the scene.
Then, earlier on Wednesday, deputies were in the area of Riverdale Road conducting general patrol when the same tag number was spotted. But instead of it being on the Gold Toyota Avalon -- it was on a Black GMC Denali Terrain, the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office said that when they noticed the tag number, they called for backup from another unit and activated blue lights to initiate a traffic stop while simultaneously blocking the car in to prevent the driver from leaving. However, the vehicle still managed to escape -- prompting a chase and eventually the crash.
When 11Alive arrived on the scene, there were multiple Clayton County deputies along Howard Street and Church Street, along with a wrecked Chrysler 300 car surrounded by car parts and debris.
Several hundred feet down Church Street, the suspect’s SUV was in a wood line where the vehicle had rolled down an embankment.
There were several onlookers standing behind the Dwarf House Chick-fil-A restaurant along Riverdale Road, watching all the activity.
One of the men, Robert Cobb, said he almost found himself caught up in the pursuit. He said he had just pulled out of a Bank of America and was turning into the Chateau Plaza when everything happened.
“As soon as I turned in, 'boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,”' he explained, adding, “They was right behind me.”
He said the pursuit was heading down Church Street toward Main Street when the suspect crashed into the driver of the Chrysler 300 at Howard Street.
The entire back end of the sedan was smashed. The driver was rushed to a local hospital.
“I’m just lucky that they didn’t hit me,” Cobb said.
He said the suspect then spun out a few hundred feet down Church Street, and the vehicle flipped down an embankment. Cobb said they got the suspect and then found out he wasn’t alone in the SUV.
“Two small kids. The SUV that was being chased by the police, there were two kids in the car. Hopefully, they’re alright,” Cobb said.
It’s unclear if deputies knew if there were children in the suspect’s SUV, but Cobb said regardless, the suspect should have never tried to run with children inside the vehicle.
“If you got kids in the car, just stop. If you got a ticket, just take it; if you got a warrant, take it, but to put your life and some babies' lives in harm’s way, that doesn’t make no sense to me,” he explained.
The Clayton County Sheriff's Office said that the suspect accused of this incident is heading to jail and facing 24 charges ranging from reckless driving, cruelty to children, hit and run, concealing the identity of a motor vehicle, and fleeing and eluding.
