Clayton police review fatal chase

By Marcus K. Garner and Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Clayton County Police Department is reviewing events that led to a police chase that left two women dead and the driver of a pickup in jail.

Chief Jeff Turner said  Thursday the department's chase review board would look at the circumstances that led to the deadly crash while the Georgia State Patrol conducts its own review of the chase.

Turner said the chase began around 9:30 p.m., in Clayton County when officers saw the pickup slow and then stop so the driver could talk to a woman beside the road. That area of Old Dixie Highway at I-75 is known for prostitution but Turner said it was not known if the man was soliciting the woman for sex.

Turner said the driver in the pickup — Christian Harris, 24 ,of Fayetteville — sped off "recklessly" as the officers walked up to the side of the truck. They followed him north on I-75 and then onto Old National Highway.

The pickup was going against oncoming traffic when it collided with the Saturn, sending it airborne and killing the women inside, according to police department spokeswoman Lt. Rebecca Brown.

The women were identified as Bonnie Vicks, 57, of College Park and Zannie Hatcher, 74, of College Park.

The truck then spun around, striking a second car before coming to a stop, Brown said.

By the time the officers got to the wreckage, Harris, who was not injured, had jumped out of the truck and was attempting to run, Turner said.

Harris was captured and taken to Southern Regional Hospital. He remains in police custody.

"He's been familiar to us since he was a juvenile in 1998," Turner said, adding that he had a lengthy record of arrests and convictions mostly for misdemeanors.

After the Wednesday night chase, Harris  was charged in Clayton County with 13 offenses, Turner said. He will face more charges in Fulton County, which is where the chase ended.

He is charged with multiple traffic offenses as well as vehicular homicide.

Turner said the department's policies concerning car chases were  followed and the officers involved were still working.

Turner said the officers in two cars were in contact with a supervisor during the chase and any of them could have stopped it if they thought it had become dangerous for other drivers. The chief said the patrol cars had slowed — a technique used in hopes the driver being chased will also slow — and lost sight of the pickup. About 200 yards ahead, they came upon the crash scene.

“They didn't even see it happen,” Turner said Thursday.

Check back at AJC.com for updates.