Teen steals police car, barricades himself in home

Metro Atlanta

Teen steals police car, barricades himself in home

Youth surrenders after officers use tear gas to end standoff at home.

March 13, 2013-ATLANTA: Two Atlanta SWAT team members devise a plan before a standoff ended when tear gas drove a teen suspected of stealing an East Point Police car out of his family home in Southwest Atlanta on Weds., March 13th, 2013. Police say the teen stole the police car, ditched it in his neighborhood then held up in his mother� home. Tear gas was employed after the teen allegedly refused to communication with police negotiators. PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM

March 13, 2013-ATLANTA: A SWAT standoff ended when tear gas drove a teen suspected of stealing an East Point Police car out of his family home in Southwest Atlanta on Weds., March 13th, 2013. Police say the teen stole the police car, ditched it in his neighborhood then held up in his mother� home. Tear gas was employed after the teen allegedly refused to communication with police negotiators. PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM

March 13, 2013-ATLANTA: Atlanta SWAT team member shoot tear gas into the home of a teen suspected of stealing an East Point Police car in Southwest Atlanta on Weds., March 13th, 2013. Police say the teen stole the police car, ditched it in his neighborhood then held up in his mother� home. Tear gas was employed after the teen allegedly refused to communication with police negotiators. PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM

March 13, 2013-ATLANTA: A teen suspected of stealing an East Point Police car comes out of his family home after Atlanta SWAT used tear gas to drive him out in Southwest Atlanta on Weds., March 13th, 2013. Police say the teen stole the police car, ditched it in his neighborhood then held up in his mother� home. Tear gas was employed after the teen allegedly refused to communication with police negotiators. PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM

Mar. 12, 2013, 2013 Fulton County: Atlanta police sent in their SWAT officers at 1300 block of Gideons Drive where a teenage boy’s standoff with police ended around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 13, 2013 hours after he allegedly stole an East Point Police squad car. The car was taken around 9 a.m., after an apparent accident near the corner of Oakland and Main streets, police said. “One of our officers was running traffic on Main Street when a vehicle went by at a very high rate of speed,” East Point Police spokesman Lt. Cliff Chandler told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He followed until it crashed on Main at Astor in Atlanta.” The officer arrested the teen, and after an altercation that ended with the officer using a Taser to subdue the youth, placed the teen into the back of his Dodge Charger traffic patrol car, Chandler said. “Somehow, the 13-year-old was able to get from back of car and into the front,” he said. The teen took the car. Police used the GPS device installed on the car to find it, and Atlanta police traced it to southwest Atlanta near Mozley Park on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Police put out an alert for the teen, and soon discovered that he had fled to his home nearby in the 1300 block of Gideons Drive. “The kid barricaded himself inside his home,” Chandler said. It is unclear whether the teen is armed. But a SWAT team has been called to the house, and police negotiators are working with one of the teen’s parents to talk him out of the home, according to reports. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Mar. 12, 2013, 2013 Fulton County: Atlanta police interview persons after they sent their SWAT officers to 1300 block of Gideons Drive where a teenage boy’s standoff with police ended around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 13, 2013 hours after he allegedly stole an East Point Police squad car. The car was taken around 9 a.m., after an apparent accident near the corner of Oakland and Main streets, police said. “One of our officers was running traffic on Main Street when a vehicle went by at a very high rate of speed,” East Point Police spokesman Lt. Cliff Chandler told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He followed until it crashed on Main at Astor in Atlanta.” The officer arrested the teen, and after an altercation that ended with the officer using a Taser to subdue the youth, placed the teen into the back of his Dodge Charger traffic patrol car, Chandler said. “Somehow, the 13-year-old was able to get from back of car and into the front,” he said. The teen took the car. Police used the GPS device installed on the car to find it, and Atlanta police traced it to southwest Atlanta near Mozley Park on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Police put out an alert for the teen, and soon discovered that he had fled to his home nearby in the 1300 block of Gideons Drive. “The kid barricaded himself inside his home,” Chandler said. It is unclear whether the teen is armed. But a SWAT team has been called to the house, and police negotiators are working with one of the teen’s parents to talk him out of the home, according to reports. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Mar. 12, 2013, 2013 Fulton County: East Point police found their stolen vehicle at Mozley Pace and Chicamauga Avenue. A teenage boy’s standoff with police ended around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 13, 2013 hours after he allegedly stole an East Point Police squad car, police said. The car was taken around 9 a.m., after an apparent accident near the corner of Oakland and Main streets, police said. “One of our officers was running traffic on Main Street when a vehicle went by at a very high rate of speed,” East Point Police spokesman Lt. Cliff Chandler told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He followed until it crashed on Main at Astor in Atlanta.” The officer arrested the teen, and after an altercation that ended with the officer using a Taser to subdue the youth, placed the teen into the back of his Dodge Charger traffic patrol car, Chandler said. “Somehow, the 13-year-old was able to get from back of car and into the front,” he said. The teen took the car. Police used the GPS device installed on the car to find it, and Atlanta police traced it to southwest Atlanta near Mozley Park on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Police put out an alert for the teen, and soon discovered that he had fled to his home nearby in the 1300 block of Gideons Drive. “The kid barricaded himself inside his home,” Chandler said. It is unclear whether the teen is armed. But a SWAT team has been called to the house, and police negotiators are working with one of the teen’s parents to talk him out of the home, according to reports. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Mar. 12, 2013, 2013 Fulton County: East Point police direct traffic at Astor Avenue and Lee Street after a suspect had crashed at the intersection following a police chase. A teenage boy’s standoff with police ended around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 13, 2013 hours after he allegedly stole an East Point Police squad car, police said. The car was taken around 9 a.m., after an apparent accident near the corner of Oakland and Main streets, police said. “One of our officers was running traffic on Main Street when a vehicle went by at a very high rate of speed,” East Point Police spokesman Lt. Cliff Chandler told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He followed until it crashed on Main at Astor in Atlanta.” The officer arrested the teen, and after an altercation that ended with the officer using a Taser to subdue the youth, placed the teen into the back of his Dodge Charger traffic patrol car, Chandler said. “Somehow, the 13-year-old was able to get from back of car and into the front,” he said. The teen took the car. Police used the GPS device installed on the car to find it, and Atlanta police traced it to southwest Atlanta near Mozley Park on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Police put out an alert for the teen, and soon discovered that he had fled to his home nearby in the 1300 block of Gideons Drive. “The kid barricaded himself inside his home,” Chandler said. It is unclear whether the teen is armed. But a SWAT team has been called to the house, and police negotiators are working with one of the teen’s parents to talk him out of the home, according to reports. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Mar. 12, 2013, 2013 Fulton County: East Point and Atlanta Firefighters move a patient from the wreck scene on Astor Avenue and Lee Street after a suspect had crashed at the intersection following a police chase. A teenage boy’s standoff with police ended around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 13, 2013 hours after he allegedly stole an East Point Police squad car, police said. The car was taken around 9 a.m., after an apparent accident near the corner of Oakland and Main streets, police said. “One of our officers was running traffic on Main Street when a vehicle went by at a very high rate of speed,” East Point Police spokesman Lt. Cliff Chandler told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He followed until it crashed on Main and Astor in Atlanta.” The officer arrested the teen, and after an altercation that ended with the officer using a Taser to subdue the youth, placed the teen into the back of his Dodge Charger traffic patrol car, Chandler said. “Somehow, the 13-year-old was able to get from back of car and into the front,” he said. The teen took the car. Police used the GPS device installed on the car to find it, and Atlanta police traced it to southwest Atlanta near Mozley Park on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Police put out an alert for the teen, and soon discovered that he had fled to his home nearby in the 1300 block of Gideons Drive. “The kid barricaded himself inside his home,” Chandler said. It is unclear whether the teen is armed. But a SWAT team has been called to the house, and police negotiators are working with one of the teen’s parents to talk him out of the home, according to reports. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

1/9

March 13, 2013-ATLANTA: Two Atlanta SWAT team members devise a plan before a standoff ended when tear gas drove a teen suspected of stealing an East Point Police car out of his family home in Southwest Atlanta on Weds., March 13th, 2013. Police say the teen stole the police car, ditched it in his neighborhood then held up in his mother� home. Tear gas was employed after the teen allegedly refused to communication with police negotiators. PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM

Today's Gallery Headlines

Mayor State of City

AJC photos of the month for March

49m ago

Sue Bickham dances with SALSAtlanta during the Atlanta Dogwood Festival at Piedmont Park on Saturday, April 11, 2026. (Ben Gray for the AJC)

PHOTOS: Dogwood festival revamps admission

aajc 041326 masters final round Sunday

PHOTOS: Masters 2026 Round 4

aajc 041226 Masters Round 3 Sat

PHOTOS: Masters 2026 Round 3

More Galleries

Juwad Maynard holds a banner during a protest in Atlanta on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, against the U.S. military action in Venezuela. (Ben Gray for the AJC)

PHOTOS: People gather in downtown Atlanta to protest U.S. military action in Venezuela

Photos of AJC’s final run

PHOTOS: The final print run of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Buddhist Monks

PHOTOS: Buddhist monks travel through Atlanta on ‘Walk for Peace’

Coca-Cola first ad

PHOTOS: Coca-Cola ads over time