Police Report

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On 2/18/10 at about 0202 hours, I was on patrol in the area of 3330 MLK when a vehicle bearing GA tag BCY9876 passed me going eastbound. I recognized the vehicle as being one that was stolen early in the day on 2/17/10. I notified dispatch that I was behind a stolen vehicle eastbound on MLK and asked for additional units to assist including Georgia State Patrol. I followed the vehicle eastbound on MLK until the vehicle went northbound on I-285. I continued to follow the vehicle with assistance from others units that were responding until the vehicle passed D L Hollowell Pkwy. At this time, I activated my emergency equipment along with the other units and attempted to perform a felony stop. The driver pulled onto the left hand emergency lane (partly in the fast lane of travel) and refused to open the door. I kept giving verbal commands to the driver to open the door and keep his hands shown at all times. The driver opened the door and looked backwards, showing his hands, asking what was the problem. I stood outside of my patrol vehicle and told the driver to get out of the vehicle, at which point, the driver pulled off and sped away northbound on I-285 towards Bolton Rd. The driver lost control of the vehicle just before Bolton Rd and crashed into the concrete median wall and came to rest facing southbound in the northbound lanes. As patrol vehicles approached, the driver sped off southbound in the northbound lanes of travel. Once the vehicle began to travel wrong way on the interstate, Atlanta Police units disengaged and the Georgia State Patrol took over. Before GSP could get behind the vehicle, the vehicle wrecked into the shoulder, coming to rest with the front of the vehicle in a ditch. As APD and GSP units approached the vehicle, the driver was stepping on the gas, in an attempt to free the vehicle and flee again. The driver kept changing gears from drive to reverse and ignoring the verbal commands of GSP and APD to turn the vehicle off and get out. The driver kept reaching towards the floorboard of the vehicle while revving the engine. fearing that the driver was reaching for a weapon, I decided to break out the driver side window with my ASP baton in an attempt to remove the driver from the vehicle. When the window broke, the driver covered his face with both hands. At this point in time, an officer opened the passenger door and removed the driver from the vehicle. The driver continued to resist once outside of the vehicle and did not obey lawful orders to place his hands behind his back. After a brief struggle, the driver was finally able to be placed in handcuffs.

Once the scene was determined to be secure, Grady EMS and a tow truck were started. I went over to the driver and asked for his name and date of birth. The driver stated that his information was in the vehicle and for me to go find it. Grady EMS 238 arrived on scene and transported the driver to Grady Hospital for treatment since he was now acting unresponsive towards the EMT’s. I located some of the victim’s property that was taken during the theft of the vehicle. These items were taken to Police Property for the victim to pick up at a later date. I relocated to the hospital to place the appropriate charges on the driver. I was unable to speak to the driver when I arrived because medical staff had intubated the driver upon arrival at the hospital. I placed charges on the driver with the name of John Smith 1/1/60 since he refused to give information on scene and was unable to do so at the hospital.

I relocated to the precinct to complete paperwork and spoke to the victim of the theft by phone, Mr. Stanley Fong. Mr. Fong stated that the suspect who stole his vehicle was a Mark Merritt B/M. Mr Fong stated that the only distinctive clothing feature he could remember about Mark Merritt was that he had on some sort of cartoon briefs (Mr Merritt was wearing “Batman” brief underwear at the time of arrest). Mr Fong stated that he had a photo ot Mark Merritt and that he would email me a picture of this person that was taken the night before the theft. I received the email and this was the same person as the driver of the stolen vehicle. I checked the license photo on the MDT and confirmed that Mark Merritt and the driver were one in the same. Once this new information was learned, I went back to Grady Hospital and placed the charges on the driver with the correct name and date of birth.

Sgt. Teague (1494) was on scene during the incident and informed of all details of the case.

GSP 744 (Lecroy) completed the accident report (C000000203-01) and incident report for the pursuit (100014123- 01)

MKE/STOLEN VEHICLE ORI/GAAPD0048 LIC/BCY9876 LIS/GA LIY/2010 LIT/PC VIN/1HGCD7260VA001650 VYR/1997 VMA/H0ND VMO/ACC VST/2D VCO/DBL DOT/20100217 OCA/100480456 MIS/IF L0CATED C0NTACT GCIC UNIT 24HRS AT 404 5467460 NIC/V023365409 DTE/20100217 0944 EST DLU/20100217 0944 EST ORI IS ATLANTA PD ATLANTA 404 817-2367 IMMED CONFIRM RECORD WITH ORI