Bond denied for suspect in I-75 chase

An Albany man was ordered held without bond Wednesday after leading police on a six-county chase in a stolen tractor-trailer cab down Interstate 75 as the driver held on to the back of his rig, authorities said.

Fulton County Magistrate Judge Sylvia McCoy denied bond for Milo Demetris Banks, 27, telling him in a first-appearance hearing at the Fulton County Jail that she considered him a flight risk. She appointed a public defender to represent Banks and scheduled his next court appearance for 9 a.m. May 13 in Fulton County Superior Court.

Milo Demetris Banks

• Video: Watch the chase

Recent headlines:

[an error occurred while processing this directive]    • Metro and state news

Banks was pulled from the cab of the truck and arrested in Monroe County after the roughly 30-minute chase that at times reached speeds of 60 mph and had the rightful driver “hanging on for dear life,” authorities said.

A Georgia State Patrol trooper was wounded by a round that ricocheted from the weapon of another police officer during the chase.

Officers used spiked “stop sticks” to blow out the truck’s tires and were able to stop the truck at Mile Marker 191 on I-75 south in Monroe County, State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright said.

“He was on the rim, and the truck came to a stop,” Wright said.

Banks was taken into police custody in Monroe County and was later transferred to the Fulton jail. He was charged with kidnapping, fleeing and attempting to elude and theft by taking. More charges are pending.

Driver Torrey Robert Lang, 33, of Lithonia, left the truck and returned to find Banks behind the wheel, pulling away from the parking lot, Union City police spokesman George Louth said.

“Lang tried to stop him,” Louth said. “Lang jumped on the back of the truck and started making calls” to 911 and the company that owns his truck.

Louth said a Union City detective in an unmarked car spotted the truck stuck in traffic on State Road 138, and tried to stop Banks at gunpoint.

But the truck drove off. No shots were fired, Louth said.

Fulton County officers began chasing the tractor-trailer cab southbound on I-75, with Lang dangling from the back of the truck the whole time.

The chase ran through Fulton, Clayton, Henry, Spalding, Butts and Monroe counties, Clayton County Sheriff Kem Kimbrough said.

“The owner was hanging on the back of the truck for dear life,” he said.

Clayton County Sheriff Sgt. Ernest Clayborn said he spotted the truck on Tara Boulevard in Lovejoy. He was blocking business entrances to prevent the truck from hurting anyone when it swerved toward his patrol car.

“He ran me off the road and I got behind him in the chase,” Clayborn said. “He was only going about 45-50 mph, but he still wouldn’t stop.”

Clayborn said he saw the truck driver sitting on the back of the truck, holding on and talking on his cellphone.

“I prayed for him,” he said. “I was scared he would get thrown off, but he held on.”

Clayton sheriff’s Sgt. Eddie Gore said he was on Tara Boulevard on a traffic stop when he heard the chase on the radio.

“When we realized he wasn’t going to stop, we had to block traffic to make room for him to go through,” he said. “It was a danger to the public and we didn’t want anyone to get hurt. He just drove on through.”

Kimbrough said he was concerned about his officers’ safety when he heard the suspect had a gun and had opened fire on other officers.

Trooper Tre Howard, the only officer injured, was shot on the arm while trying to stop the stolen vehicle.

A bullet from another officer’s gun struck Howard in his vest and injured his arm, the Georgia State Patrol said.

Howard, who is stationed at the Forsyth post, was treated and released from the hospital early Tuesday evening, authorities said. He is on medical leave, a State Patrol spokesman said.

Lang was taken to a Macon hospital with minor injuries, the State Patrol said.