ATLANTA — It is a split-second decision that law enforcement officers have to make when a suspect decides to speed off in a car: Do we chase or let them go?
"Roughly one person a day in this country is killed in a pursuit," LaGrange Police Chief Louis Dekmar told Channel 2 Action News.
It is something officers train for across the country to make sure if they do chase a suspect, that they are doing it in the safest ways possible to make sure injuries are at a minimum. But sometimes, crashes are unavoidable.
Here is a look at some of the most dangerous pursuits we have covered over the last couple of years across metro Atlanta:
Chase leads to wreck that killed grandmother, 2 grandchildren
Dorothy Wright, 75, and her grandchildren, Cameron Costner, 12, and Layla Partridge, 6, were on their way to church when they were hit and killed by someone driving a stolen car in College Park in January 2016.
Police chased the stolen SUV from the Westin Hotel in College Park. The SUV crashed on South Gordon Street and Rogers Avenue.
The driver got away after the crash and has yet to be found.
Suspect tries to run over officer before arrest, police say
Dashcam video from a police chase in March from Gwinnett County shows the moments a suspect went airborne in an attempt to escape but collided with an officer head-on.
Witnesses said they couldn’t believe the drama unfolding in front of them as officers from three agencies drew their guns and put Brian Ngo, 23, into handcuffs.
Police said the long chase began at the Collins Hill Library, where an officer spotted a car reported stolen out of Lilburn.
The chase ended with a spinout, an attempted airborne getaway and a crash.
Ngo was arrested and was charged with aggravated assault, hit-and-run, felony obstruction and numerous traffic charges.
Chase ends with deadly crash into local pond
A security guard from a Fayetteville Sprint store called in a smash-and-grab robbery in May 2017. The guard said saw three men run from the store and a getaway driver picked them up.
Dashcam video showed the high-speed, 5-mile chase that ended with the four young men submerged in a Clayton County pond off Taylor and Flint River roads after hitting another car.
Three of the men died, the fourth got away.
The driver who was hit in the wreck was expected to recover.
Man leads police on chase with two children in the car, police say
Body camera video captured the moments after police say Demario Evans blew through a stop sign and then sped away from officers last July.
Police said at one point, Evans popped the tire of his black Dodge Avenger, and that's when they say he took off on foot, with an officer not far behind. The officer soon lost Evans in the brush.
Investigators said they don’t know why Evans ran, but he left behind his 4-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old girl. He eventually turned himself into police.
Mother leads police on chase that reached 100+ mph on Mother’s Day, police say
Police arrested Taneka Taylor after investigators said she sped off from police and led them on a pursuit they say went on for 30 minutes and hit more than 100 miles an hour in Coweta County.
Senoia police dashcam video shows there were several cars on Highway 16 in Coweta County when police said Taylor led officers on the high-speed chase on Mother's Day in May 2017.
The initial stop wasn't for speeding, according to police. They said an officer ran Taylor's plate and realized her license was suspended and had been suspended at least three other times.
Police said a baby was sleeping in the back of the car and a 4-year-old girl was wide awake and frightened.
Police turned the children over to a family member and took the mother to jail. Taylor bonded out.
Cox Media Group
