A 17-year-old from Dallas, Georgia, allegedly led a Paulding County Sheriff's deputy on a chase at speeds of up to 110 mph during morning rush hour yesterday. The pursuit ended with the car crashing onto a residential lawn, and the teen has been charged with speeding, felony eluding of the police, felony interference with government property, minor in possession of alcohol, reckless and aggressive driving, driving without a license, leaving the scene of an accident, and 13 other criminal and traffic offenses.
The incident apparently began when the teen pulled up behind the deputy at a stoplight shortly after 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning. The deputy noticed the teen's "excessively loud music," got out of his cruiser and walked back to talk to the young man. Unfortunately, the 17-year-old was unable to produce a driver's license. When the deputy went back to his car, the teen allegedly sped off.
According to the police report and a dash cam video, the teen driver circled through Georgia highways 120 and 92 and then to Macland Road heading back to where the chase began. On Macland, the teen allegedly began dodging other cars by driving on the wrong side of the road and passing on the shoulder and on a curve, at one point passing within 200 feet of oncoming traffic.
The deputy says the chase ended near Macland and Ga. 120 when the teen's car, white Ford Mustang, ran off the road and onto a driveway before flying through the air. The teen dove out of the car before it had stopped and was apparently uninjured enough to attempt to run away.
Deputies converged on the young man, arrested him and took him to the Paulding County jail, where he remained overnight.
High-speed chases are always dangerous, and police officers are required to weigh the safety of bystanders against their instinct to give chase. In many cases, police chases pose more danger to the public than allowing the suspect to escape. It is not clear what led the Sheriff's deputies to conclude that an excessive noise complaint, a driver's license offense and a speeding ticket -- even in the case of a "super speeder" -- justified a 110-mph pursuit during rush hour in this case.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Paulding teen jailed after high-speed chase, crash in rush hour," David Ibata, Sept. 15, 2011
