Authorities were searching a lake at a south DeKalb County golf course Tuesday for a carjacking suspect who is believed to have drowned after wrecking a stolen Ford Mustang and jumping into the water.
According to Atlanta police dispatch logs, the silver Mustang was carjacked around 3 a.m. on Crescent Avenue in Midtown.
The suspect, who was armed with a handgun, crashed in the Southland Country Club, and, according to police, jumped into a lake.
A boat from DeKalb Fire and Rescue arrived on the scene around 7:25 a.m. to search the lake. Searchers were awaiting the Hall County Fire and Rescue's dive team to arrive to explore the lake, which was 20 to 25 feet deep, around 11 a.m.
Assistant DeKalb Fire Chief Garret Smith told the AJC that police pursued the Mustang into the neighborhood along Magnolia Ridge.
The officer had the suspect “corralled in the cul-de-sac, and he jumped the curb, went down and struck that tree,” Smith said, pointing to a broken tree near the lake. “The officer saw the doors open, heard a loud splash, saying the guy went into the water.”
The suspect sideswiped Stanicia Harris’ air-conditioning unit before slamming into a tree in her yard.
“I was awakened to a loud crash and looked out the window and noticed about 15 or 20 police surrounding the house,” Harris said. “A Mustang had run head-on into the tree.”
Harris said she “saw police running in the direction of the lake and was told the suspect jumped in the lake.”
“You can see there are footprints down by the side of the lake and I guess he took a dive,” Harris said.
Smith said that in the predawn darkness, an officer “could see the guy swimming across and then he lost him. That’s where we stand right now.”
DeKalb police brought in a K-9 unit to search the perimeter of the lake “and couldn’t find any area where it appeared that the guy came out at, so as far as we know at this point, he is still in [the lake],” Smith said.
“We’re trying to make contact with somebody that’s got a cadaver dog that can come out and we can put the dog in the boat and they can search over the areas where we think he was last seen it, and if he’s down there, they should be able to detect him.”
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