ATLANTA — A driver fleeing from a police chase led to not one but two deadly crashes in Gordon County Monday, authorities said.
It happened after what was initially called in as a suspicious person driving a possibly stolen vehicle, Calhoun Police said.
“It's a terrible circumstance or situation,” said Calhoun Police Chief Tony Pyle.
Calhoun PD officers responded to a RaceTrac and attempted to stop the vehicle, but the suspect allegedly fled from authorities. That individual drove east on Hwy. 53 and entered I-75 South at "speeds of 90+ mph," the department said.
“Officers turned around and tried to initiate a traffic stop, and at that time, the suspect fled. They went through portions of Calhoun and subsequently ended up southbound on I-75”, Chief Pyle said.
He said at one point, the suspect’s white Chevrolet Silverado rammed a Calhoun officer’s patrol car, which caused the suspect to lose control.
"He went down into an embankment, crossover into northbound lane of I-75 and hit a vehicle almost head on the way it appears. The suspect -- we will call it vehicle one -- struck vehicle two, and it appears that he flipped and caused an injury to a gentleman in vehicle two, who had to be life flighted," he said.
The suspect was thrown from the Silverado, killing him. Police said other cars tried to avoid the crash, causing another accident where a second person was killed.
“Vehicle three tried to swerve to avoid the accident, striking vehicle four. They both exited the interstate, off the highway, and it sheared the top off of vehicle four and caused a fatality," he said.
And now, this incident has Pyle issuing a warning to other drivers.
“Sometimes there's this mentality, they think, 'well if I don’t stop for the police, if they get me, I’ll go to jail. If they don’t, I just got away.' But unfortunately, as we’ve seen, with this accident, this driver, failing to stop has impacted several other lives," Pyle said,
At last check, the victim, who was life-flighted, was still in critical condition. At this point, police haven’t released the names of anyone in the accident.
Officials said two investigations are in progress. There's one headed by GSP and the other is an internal investigation by Calhoun Police to determine whether its officers followed protocol before the deadly crashes.