One person is dead and two others in custody after a car that police said was stolen wrecked on Memorial Drive near Stone Mountain on Tuesday morning.
DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said a Toyota had been driving erratically on U.S. 78 and had forced several cars off the road.
An officer spotted the Toyota and as the officer tried to catch up to the car on nearby Memorial Drive, the Toyota cut across the median, ran off the road and struck a tree near the East Ponce de Leon Avenue ramp, police said.
Parish said the driver of the Toyota, Sterling Shabazz, was armed with a gun, and fled the wrecked car on foot.
The officer rendered aid to an unnamed female passenger and took that passenger into custody, and called for backup to search for the driver, who had fled into nearby woods.
Michael Holt, 45, a passenger in the car, which had been stolen in DeKalb County, was critically injured and later died en route to the hospital, Parish said.
Shabazz was taken into custody during a search by dozens of officers, including at least one K-9 officer, and will face charges of first-degree vehicular homicide, theft by receiving motor vehicle, reckless driving, failure to maintain lane and driving on a suspended license, according to police.
— Staff reporter Marcus K. Garner contributed to this article.
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