After allegedly robbing a Waffle House early Saturday, two suspects scattered and fired shots at the Gwinnett County officers who chased them. The duo — both previously convicted felons — was caught minutes later and remained behind bars Monday afternoon, according to police.
The incident began around 6:50 a.m. Saturday when a man, later identified as Tavares Douglas Harris, 25, robbed the Waffle House on Goshen Springs Road in Norcross at gunpoint, according to Cpl. Jake Smith with Gwinnett County police.
Two Gwinnett officers driving by the restaurant watched as a suspect ran from the restaurant and got into a black 1994 Honda Accord, which was driven by another suspect, Smith said. As the officers approached the Honda, the driver left the area. Officers followed the two suspects onto Jimmy Carter Boulevard, across I-85 and toward Rockbridge Road, Smith said.
“As the officers approached Rockbridge Road, the suspects fired multiple shots at the pursuing officers out of their back window, shattering it,” Smith said in an emailed statement Monday. “The officers were not hit.”
The suspects then tossed a gun out of the car’s window, according to police. After passing through the intersection of Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Rockbridge Road, the suspects again fired shots at the pursuing officers, striking one of the patrol cars, Smith said.
Neither officer was injured and moments later, the suspects tossed a second handgun from a window, Smith said.
The Honda driver pulled into the parking lot of a the Home Depot at 4112 Jimmy Carter Boulevard and drove behind the store, where the vehicle was trapped by the two officers, Smith said.
Minutes before 7 a.m., the driver of the Honda was arrested, but the passenger ran from officers, according to police. At 7:04, the passenger was caught by other responding officers and also arrested, police said.
The driver of the car refused to give police his name, but was later identified as Tamari Curtis Adams, 24, Smith said. The passenger told officers his name was John Black, but by checking his fingerprints, deputies at the Gwinnett County jail identified the man as Harris, police said.
Gwinnett police charged Adams and Harris each with two counts of aggravated assault, Smith said. Harris is also charged with providing a false name to an officer. Adams is also charged with fleeing and eluding police, reckless conduct, reckless driving, speeding, and several other traffic violations. Additionally, Norcross police charged the pair with robbery, Smith said.
Both Adams and Harris were booked into the Gwinnett jail, where they were being held Monday without bond.
Adams spent a year in Rogers State Prison following a burglary conviction in DeKalb County in 2010, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. Harris spent about nine months in prison in 2010 after a false imprisonment conviction, records show.
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