JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Someone who was test driving a high-end car led an officer on a dangerous high-speed chase down a busy stretch of road, Johns Creek police said.
Dashcam video obtained by Channel 2's Mike Petchenik shows an officer trying to pull over a Mercedes E350 June 16 on State Bridge Road.
“He was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed,” said Capt. Chris Byers. “At the beginning, it looked like the car was going to pull over for him, but eventually took off at a high rate of speed.”
The video shows the car with a dealer drive-out tag on it with the words “Test Drive” printed on it. %
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“We’ve got investigators out as we speak following up on all of our leads,” said Byers. “We do have leads on where this vehicle came from and who the driver was.”
Byers said once speeds hit more than 100 mph, the officer had to call off the chase, per department policy.
“You’re trying to run all these different things through your head at the same time, those split-second decisions, observing what the vehicle is doing,” he said.
A car dealer employee was charged for the high-speed chase. Police said he had no license.
Petchenik showed the dashcam video to drivers, who told him they were surprised at how brazen the speeder appeared to be.
“I think it’s stupid, but people do it all the time,” said Staci Wilson, who lives along State Bridge Road. “I call it the mini-Autobahn.”