WINDER, Ga. -- A wild scene unfolded in Winder over the weekend – a Georgia State Patrol car slammed into the front of a house after a high-speed chase, while the renter was sitting on the porch.
Luckily, Steven Wilhelm said he was able to jump out of the way and run inside seconds beforehand.
“I don’t even think he touched the brake, so I took off into the house,” Wilhelm said. “I no more than closed the glass door and he was up on the porch.”
Wilhelm said the trooper and the suspect he was chasing took off around the back of the house, leaving Wilhelm and his wife to figure out what happened.
Damage from the patrol car caused thousands of dollars in damage to the home, Wilhelm said.
“Why would you chase someone through a residential neighborhood, not knowing the area to begin with, going that kind of speed down a dead end road?” Wilhelm said.
Wilhelm said the trooper on scene told him he wasn’t responsible for the damages.
“All I was told was, ‘It’s not my fault, I was doing my job,' and that came from the driver, the officer in this case,” Wilhelm said. “I was very upset.”
PHOTOS: GSP car slams into Winder home
Captain Mark Perry with GSP told 11Alive he was not aware of the conversation Wilhelm had with the trooper and that the family can file a claim with the state to fix damage to the home – although the state may only be liable for some of it. Perry would not comment on why the officer was speeding through the neighborhood, who the suspect was or why he was chasing them.
GSP told 11Alive the incident report was not available.
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The renter said he plans to file a claim, but so far has no idea what the total damage is.
“It’s going to have to be reconstructed from window to window,” Wilhelm said. “I think they need to make things right and apologize. You know you’re wrong for the situation.”
