A Cobb County man faces a host of charges after allegedly fleeing police in a U-Haul truck and then slamming into another driver.
Avery Jerome Morris, 32, was arrested last Friday after leading police on the early morning chase through Marietta, jail records show.
According to a Marietta police report, an officer attempted to stop Morris near Cherokee and Polk streets about 6:20 a.m. after the U-Haul ran a red light and nearly struck the officer’s cruiser.
Morris refused to pull over, hopping curbs and running stop signs as he fled toward the Marietta Square with officers in pursuit, police said.
“I was unable to see the tag number and decided that I needed to stop the U-Haul immediately as it was traveling recklessly in a high-traffic and high-pedestrian area during rush hour,” the arresting officer wrote in his report.
The chase came to an end several blocks later when Morris made a sharp turn onto Polk Street and struck a pickup truck head-on, police said. Morris jumped out of the U-Haul while it was still rolling and attempted to run away, authorities said.
He jumped a fence and ran along the railroad tracks until officers caught up with him and took him into custody with the help of a stun gun, according to the police report.
It’s unclear why Morris ran from police, but his arrest warrant indicates he was driving on a suspended license and had a misdemeanor amount of marijuana in his pocket.
He is charged with obstruction, reckless driving, driving on a suspended license, three counts of failure to obey a traffic control device, backing up illegally, fleeing or attempting to elude police, marijuana possession and hit-and-run.
He remains behind bars without bond because he has outstanding warrants in Alpharetta, Cobb County Jail records show.
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