SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — A local police chief is talking only to Channel 2 Action News and giving us new information about a deadly crash involving one of his officers.
Three people died and several others were hurt when a South Fulton patrol car chasing a suspect crashed into a van and both vehicles burst into flames. The chase started in the city of South Fulton and ended in Union City
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne learned that police have significant leads but haven't found the driver of a stolen car who started all this.
“We've developed some significant leads as to the identity of the individual we believe that was driving the car. We'll continue to work with the Georgia State Patrol in an effort to try and apprehend these individuals but certainly that’s on the forefront of our minds right now,” City of South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows said.
Meadows says the driver of a stolen Mercedes that his officer was pursuing on Sunday got away, but there's no escaping the tragedy that driver left in his or her wake.
After the patrol car and a van collided, both caught fire. Three people inside the van died and three more suffered serious injuries.
"There are different types of investigations that take place when incidents like this occur. There's an internal investigation and then there's a criminal investigation,” Meadow said. “We don’t want to get in the habit of investigating ourselves.”
He said the Georgia State Patrol will handle the criminal investigation, which will eventually be reviewed by the Fulton County District Attorney.
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“To see if the officer violated any laws or if he wasn’t using due regard at the time that the incident occurred,” he said.
The chief says hours before our interview he had spoken to Officer Deonte Walker, who was driving the patrol car involved.
“He’s saddened by the incident,” Meadows said. “He's about as well as can be expected. Obviously, our hearts and our minds and our prayers go out to the families of the individuals that perished in that fire.”
Meadows says Walker was injured but has been released from the hospital.
He says another officer probably saved Walker's life.
“Officer Blaylock actually pulled Officer Walker from the vehicle after the incident first occurred and he suffered minor injuries as a result of his heroics,” Meadows said.
The chief says the new city has been in the process of revising its chase policy, which was inherited from Fulton County police.
The pursuit policy we received after an open records request is roughly eight pages, and suggests an officer "must exercise that degree of care that a reasonably prudent person would use in the discharge of similar duties and under similar circumstances.