State trooper, motorcyclist crash during chase
A Georgia State Patrol trooper and a motorcyclist escaped serious injury early Tuesday when the GSP cruiser and the motorcycle went off a steep embankment at the end of a chase that reached speeds of 130 mph through northwest Atlanta neighborhoods.
The motorcycle, which had been stolen, was “observed at a high rate of speed on I-75 at Spring Street,” GSP Capt. Henry Fielding said.
Trooper 1st Class T.A. Rinehart told the AJC that he initially tried to stop the motorcycle for speeding, “and the individual decided not to stop and a chase ensued.”
After fleeing south on the Connector to I-20 and west on I-20, the motorcycle exited onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and continued onto Westlake Avenue and several other northwest Atlanta streets.
“As we were traveling on these surface streets, we were reaching speeds in excess of 120, 130 miles an hour, where the speed limits posted are 35 miles per hour,” Rinehart said. “The individual was traveling on the wrong side of the road and traveled through numerous red lights and numerous stop signs without hesitating.”
On Marietta Boulevard, troopers attempted to box in the motorcycle without success, Rinehart said, and at Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, “the violator failed to maintain his lane and traveled off the roadway in a sharp curve and off a 20 or 30 foot cliff-like embankment,” Rinehart said.
“Unfortunately, due to the nature of the curve and speeds being traveled, I did exit off that same area of the roadway and traveled through the air down the 30-foot embankment,” he said.
“The first thought that went through my mind was the safety of the violator. I did not want to strike the violator and clearly, he exited the roadway just ahead of me, and I could see him ahead of me,” the trooper recounted. “I saw the earth coming to me very quickly and before I knew it, the airbag deployed and it was a very abrupt stop.”
The motorcyclist, John Emory, 34, of Powder Springs, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment, but is “going to be okay,” GSP Capt. Henry Fielding said. He has been charged with fleeing and attempting to elude, reckless driving, driving on the wrong side of the road, failure to obey a traffic control device, speeding and theft by receiving stolen property.
As for the trooper, Rinehart said his injuries were mostly minor.
“I sustained an injury to my wrist, my lower back and my neck are sore, and my right ankle is sore from trying to brake and shave some speed off my vehicle before exiting the roadway.”
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