A pair of high-speed police chases snarled already slow Friday afternoon rush-hour traffic.
One started in downtown Atlanta, the other in Doraville — but both ended in Sandy Springs within five miles of one another on opposing directions of I-285.
One alleged law breaker escaped capture, while three more were arrested, police said.
Just before 4 p.m., police and Georgia State Troopers called off a search for a motorcyclist who led them on a high-speed chase from downtown Atlanta to the suburbs.
Just after 3 p.m., authorities said the biker tried to make an improper turn near the Forsyth and Marietta streets downtown, and fled when a Capitol police officer tried to stop him.
State Patrol Sgt. Robert Moody told News Talk Radio 750 A.M. and now 95.5 FM that the ensuing 15-minute chase left the downtown area going west on I-20, then north on I-285 to New Northside Drive, where the biker crashed into two patrol cars.
“He was making a U-turn trying to come back up the wrong way on a ramp,” Moody said.
The biker fled on foot, and no injuries were reported, authorities said.
“He threw off his helmet and ran,” Brooke McDonald, who works near where the crash took place, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Police asked everybody if we’d seen a man in a black leather jacket.”
Troopers and Sandy Springs Police canine unit and police from other jurisdictions were called to search the area for the biker, unsuccessfully.
“We’ve called it off,” Moody said of the search, noting that a Trooper helicopter wasn’t used. “An air unit was not available.”
But he noted that authorities are starting to track down the biker’s identity.
“We do have the motorcycle,” Moody said. “We have an idea of who it might be.”
The second chase began around 4 p.m., in Doraville, roughly an hour after the first one started.
Police spotted “three felons” in a red pick-up truck, Doraville Police spokesman Officer Gene Callaway told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“The felons fled, which led to a high-speed chase,” Callaway said.
Police followed the truck south on Buford Highway into Atlanta, then onto North Druid Hills and north on I-85, before the truck headed west on I-285, he said.
“The vehicle struck several vehicles along the way,” Callaway said, noting that police were working three active scenes following the chase.
The chase ended just west of Ga. 400, according to reports.
The three individuals — two men and a woman — were taken into custody, but Callaway would not say what the individuals were charged with or why they were being sought police.
— Staff reporter Nancy Badertscher contributed to this report.
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