A 50-year-old man was hospitalized after leading Cobb County police on a pursuit into Midtown Atlanta that ended with a patrol vehicle atop the suspect’s Jeep late Tuesday night, officials said.
Cobb police said officers with an organized crime task force were “involved in an incident” around 9:15 p.m. that started when the suspect, Robert Shirling, allegedly fled from a traffic stop in a Jeep Gladiator near Sandtown Road and Hollyridge Drive. He was pulled over for having a warrant for violation of a court order for possession, police spokesperson Officer Aaron Wilson said.
“The situation escalated when Mr. Shirling attempted to ram an officer with his vehicle, prompting a pursuit that entered the southbound lanes of (I-75) toward Atlanta and continued through various surface streets,” police said.
Shirling got off the interstate in Midtown and then collided with two vehicles while making a left turn onto 17th Street from Northside Drive, according to police. It’s the same busy intersection where a Georgia State Patrol trooper chased down and arrested a driver doing doughnuts during a street takeover in August. That incident was captured on video and widely shared on social media.
On Tuesday, Shirling took another left from 17th Street onto Howell Mill Road, where a third vehicle was struck, officials said. That is when the Cobb officer conducted a PIT maneuver, causing the Jeep to roll over onto its roof. The patrol vehicle ended up on top of the Jeep as both came to a stop on Howell Mill Road.
Shirling was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, police said. He was later booked into the Cobb jail on charges of aggravated assault, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, driving on a suspended or revoked license, failure to maintain lane and violation of a traffic control device.
No other details have been released.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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