Two men were arrested Tuesday morning after they allegedly tried to break into cars outside of a Douglasville hotel, prompting an officer to open fire.
A Douglasville police officer shot out the tires of the suspects’ car to prevent them from leaving the scene, the police department said in a Facebook post. The incident happened about 4 a.m. in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Express on Concourse Parkway, according to the GBI.
An officer on patrol in the area noticed a “suspicious” vehicle in the parking lot and went to speak to the people inside of it, the GBI said. The two men were later identified as Zion Dorsett, 21, of Lithonia, and Christopher Wilson, 31, of East Point.
A second officer arrived at the scene and the conversation continued.
“After a brief conversation, officers determined that the tag on the vehicle was not registered to that vehicle and the vehicle had been stolen,” the GBI said.
While the officers continued trying to speak to Dorsett and Wilson, the car abruptly backed up an embankment, the GBI said. The officers then tried to take the two men into custody, at which point the car sped forward. The vehicle nearly hit an officer in the process, the GBI said.
One of the police officers pulled out his gun and fired at the car. The vehicle sped out of the parking lot and drove a short distance before driving off an embankment near a Sam’s Club, the GBI said.
Dorsett and Wilson tried to run away from the car but were taken into custody after a brief chase. No injuries were reported in the incident.
Dorsett and Wilson were both booked into the Douglas County Jail, where they remain without bond, records show.
Both men are charged with possession of tools for the commission of a crime, entering auto and obstruction of an officer. Dorsett faces additional charges of aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
The Douglasville Police Department contacted the GBI to investigate the shooting. The incident is the 89th shooting involving a police officer that the GBI has been requested to investigate this year, the agency confirmed.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
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