Officials have identified the three suspects who allegedly broke into cars in Newton County before being killed in a car crash during a police chase Sept. 7. During the ensuing investigation, it was discovered that one of the suspects was a teenager who was out on bond after police said he shot an officer in March.
Alejandro Guerra, 19, of McDonough, fired several times at a Clayton County officer who was responding to a call about an armed man about 1 a.m. on March 24, police said at the time. The officer didn’t sustain any life-threatening injuries during the exchange, and Guerra was taken to the Clayton jail and charged with aggravated assault, felony obstruction, criminal trespass and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
He was out on bond when he was killed in a crash six months later in Newton County along with 20-year-old Arthur Harris of Jonesboro and 19-year-old Avidan Rojas of Lithonia, according to a Facebook post by the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said the men were trying to break into cars on Fairview Road in Covington about 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 7, but they took off in a 2010 Toyota Tacoma when deputies arrived on the scene. The pursuit ended when the suspects' car crashed into a tree and caught on fire at the intersection of Jack Neely Road.
DeKalb County and Conyers police departments reported that the suspects’ vehicle matched the description of one involved in several car break-ins that were reported to their agencies, according to the sheriff’s post.
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