Burglary crew leads police on high-speed chase through Conyers, video shows

CONYERS, Ga. — Police are searching for a burglary crew that led officers on a high-speed chase in Rockdale County.

Officers said the armed men drove through a new subdivision. Police told Channel 2's Wendy
Halloran that the crew ranges in age from 15 to 20 years old and were armed with at least one high-powered weapon.

“This wasn’t their first rodeo. This is what they do. They’re criminals,” Capt. Jackie Dunn, with the Conyers Police Department, said.

Police dashcam video caught the car full of alleged burglars being chased by Conyers police officers through neighborhoods, eventually spilling onto Interstate 20.

The incident led to several 911 calls.

Dispatcher: "Conyers 911. What is your emergency?
Caller: "Someone is trying to steal my car and break into my house. Please hurry."

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Around 4:40 a.m. Wednesday, police said, the crew of car burglars went through the Travers Creek neighborhood breaking into cars. They pointed an AK-47 pistol at a woman who looked out her window.

“When I looked through the blinds, they pointed a gun,” Baldwin Powell told Halloran. “The gunman pointed his shotgun through the window.”

Home surveillance video shows the thieves trying to break into Powell’s BMW.

Video shows that the crew soon realizes they’d been made. As soon as Conyers officer pulled up, dashcam video shows the crew take off in two cars. When one of the cars crashes, the teens jump out of the car and one of them takes off running.

Officers attempted a pit maneuver to try to make the car spin out, but it failed. The crew then got onto I-20 westbound, traveling at dangerously high speeds and weaving in and out of traffic.

“They’re starting to run people off the roadway. They’re causing accidents all the way down I-20,” an officer is heard saying on the dashcam video.

At that point, Conyers police said, they called off the chase.

“Disengage. If it’s getting dangerous for other people, disengage,” an officer is heard saying on the video.

The thieves got away but police said some of them were seen on convenience store surveillance cameras before the crime spree.

“We did not recognize these gentlemen as anyone we’ve dealt with before. The fact that they fled back to the interstate and head(ed) towards Atlanta would be our guess that they’re from that direction,” Dunn told Halloran.

One of the alleged thieves has been arrested, but police need the public's help to find the others.

The cars contained a lot of stolen items, including an AK-47 pistol, which police said was stolen from a different car burglary in DeKalb County.

If you know anything about this case, you are urged to call 911.

Cox Media Group