ATLANTA — Atlanta police officers dived into a lake to arrest a suspect wanted for vehicular theft and murder, officials say.
Last week, police spotted a Dodge Charger that was reported stolen on Aug. 24.
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The driver previously fled from several officers on Martin Luther King Boulevard, but with the assistance of APD’s Aviation Unit, the vehicle was located and tracked from the air.
The suspect got out of the vehicle and fled on foot into the woods along Tatum Lake. He continued to flee from police by diving into the lake to swim away from officers.
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Officers jumped into the lake after him and arrested him before he could reach the shore, police say.
The suspect, 21-year-old Jetarvius Q. Thompson was arrested and charged with reckless driving, fleeing and eluding, obstruction, theft by receiving stolen vehicle, driving while unlicensed, and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.
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Thompson had a warrant on an APD murder charge from 2017 involving gun violence and another warrant for cruelty to children, police said.
“The city is safer with this dangerous suspect off the streets,” police said via Facebook.
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