ATLANTA — A wild chase and crash ended with the driver taking out a school fence and prompting a lockdown at a metro school.
The dramatic end happened just as classes were getting out Friday afternoon at Wesley International Academy in southeast Atlanta.
Neighbors told Channel 2's Matt Johnson that they watched in horror and hoped no one was seriously hurt.
“It was just bad all around,” a neighbor who only identified himself as Anthony said. “They could have killed a kid. They could have killed multiple kids.”
Pictures given to Johnson show the aftermath of the police pursuit and crash.
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“They put the school on lockdown, so I had to hide under the table, and my friends were crying in the corner,” student Trejah Love said.
State troopers say the driver behind the wheel of a Mercedes SUV took out the fence and damaged cars while trying to escape.
Troopers tried to stop the SUV for driving 103 miles per hour on Interstate 20 near the Boulevard Exit.
The 17-year-old driver, Xavier Brinson, worked his way onto Kelly Street near Memorial Drive, nearly hitting some kids who were nearby.
“They were dismissing. So, they just walked by. Angels were around those kids, honestly,” parent Ebony Love told Johnson.
That’s when the SUV crashed through a metal fence at the school, landing on top of another car.
GSP said Brinson tried to run away but troopers caught up to him and arrested him.
Four other juveniles who were in the car are expected to be turned over to their parents, troopers said.
“They showed great restraint, they didn’t Tase him or anything. Had it been me, I’d have beat his butt,” Anthony said.
The neighbor told Johnson that this is the fourth crash he's witnessed in his neighborhood in three years and he fears the next one may be deadly.
Police said charges are currently pending against Brinson.
Cox Media Group
