The identity of the man who allegedly led police on a wild, hours-long chase Thursday afternoon through Gwinnett County has been released.
Joshua Scott Jones, 28, is facing preliminary charges of driving with expired or no license plates; driving without insurance; and giving a false name to police. He has not been charged yet in Thursday's incident.
Jones is in a hospital recovering from injuries sustained in the incident. Once he is discharged, police said he will be taken to the Gwinnett detention center.
According to police, Jones stole a box truck near Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Britt Road in the Norcross area and hit a number of other cars near a Walmart. Police said a witness followed the suspect and relayed his location to dispatchers. Eventually, police said two witnesses were able to catch up with the suspect and lay on top of him until police arrived.
While Jones was handcuffed in the backseat of the patrol car as police interviewed the witnesses, police said he squeezed through the cage window and took off in the cruiser.
Police said Jones abandoned the police cruiser at the Heritage Golf Links and hopped into a Ford F-150 parked at the maintenance building. After a while, police said he abandoned that vehicle too, and stole a Chevy pickup truck from the parking lot of a Taco Bell on Jimmy Carter Boulevard.
Police were able to track the movement of that pickup truck thanks to the owner's tablet inside the vehicle. They were finally able to catch up to the suspect and perform a PIT maneuver, causing him to crash.
Throughout the chase, police said Jones caused up to eight other crashes, including at a Walmart in Duluth.
