Driver tries to escape troopers by jumping off NW Atlanta bridge, GSP says

A suspect was hospitalized with serious injuries Thursday after jumping dozens of feet off a bridge in northwest Atlanta during a chase, authorities said.

After troopers performed a PIT maneuver on the vehicle, the driver fled and jumped over the northside wall on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, according to the Georgia State Patrol. The suspect survived after crashing into the Atlanta Beltline’s concrete walkway below.

“The driver has been transported to Grady Memorial Hospital with injuries sustained because of the fall,” GSP spokesman Michael Burns said.

The chase started around noon near Griffin Street after troopers tried to stop a white Mercedes-Benz C300, whose driver was suspected of traffic violations. The driver pulled into a BP gas station, located a block away, but drove away as troopers approached the vehicle, the GSP said.

After troopers performed the successful PIT maneuver, the suspect, who was not publicly identified, ran away and jumped over the bridge near Northside Drive, according to authorities. Officials have not said what charges the driver is facing.

It was the second time in recent years that a person jumped off a bridge during a chase in Atlanta.

On Jan. 2, 2020, a driver who mistakenly believed Atlanta police were after him crashed his car and leapt 40 feet off an I-85 bridge in Buckhead. He also survived, and ran into the nearby woods. Police said they found drugs in his car and a gun under the bridge.

That suspect, Davaughan Clarke, turned himself in two days later. He was booked into the Fulton County Jail on several charges, including weapons possession and willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, according to police.

An investigation is ongoing into Thursday’s incident, which shut down Hollowell Parkway.

— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.

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