An Atlanta police officer and a child were treated for injuries after a wild police pursuit that ended when the wrecker being chased crashed into two houses.
The chase began around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when the officer tried to pull the wrecker driver over for towing a vehicle that wasn't properly secured, said Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones.
On Crown Road, the pickup truck being towed broke loose from the wrecker and crashed into a patrol car, injuring the officer.
The chase continued through southeast Atlanta until the tow truck driver bailed out of the still-moving wrecker on Cologne Drive, Jones said. There, the wrecker clipped one house before crashing into a second house. A 12-year-old child, Barry Hammons, who was sleeping in a corner bedroom in one of the homes, was injured, Jones said.
His mother, Bertha Wilcher, said he sustained bruises to his forehead and scratches to his arm.
"I woke up to a big bang," Wilcher said. "So I jumped up and went into my son's room and I wasn't expecting what I saw, and when I called his name he came up and he started jerking, going into a seizure ... he has a history of seizures, so he had a minor seizure."
Wilcher said the truck was not on top of her son, but "all the debris was on him ... he had sand all over his face."
The wrecker driver, identified as Thomas McDaniel, 46, was captured in nearby woods and is facing numerous charges. A passenger in the wrecker, Michael D. Smith, 46, was also arrested.
The injured officer, who suffered leg and head injuries, and child were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where they were in stable condition.
AJC photojournalist Vino Wong contributed to this article.
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