Driver evading cops with child in SUV rams into witnesses, vehicles, Georgia police say

A woman with a child in her SUV hit multiple people and vehicles as she tried to evade Georgia police officers who were attempting to block her in, officials say.

Officers got a report about an SUV driving recklessly and nearly hitting oncoming traffic on Highway 42 on July 15, according to a news release from the Byron Police Department.

Witnesses blocked the SUV at an intersection, and officers who arrived at the scene tried to talk to the driver, who refused to respond to them, police said.

Officers placed devices under the vehicle’s tires that would cause them to deflate if she tried to drive off.

After a few minutes, the driver backed into a car that was stopped behind her and then drove forward, hitting a police officer and a police cruiser, police said.

Body-worn camera footage from a Byron police officer shows the vehicle hitting him as multiple officers point their guns at the car, ordering the driver to stop. Video shows tire fumes rising into the air as the driver lurches backwards and forwards, ramming into police vehicles that are boxing her in.

The driver struck two witnesses and another police cruiser before driving north on Highway 49 with a tire that had been flattened by one of the deflation devices, the release says.

Officers tried to block the SUV again with their cars. The driver hit a third police cruiser and struck another for the second time, seriously damaging the vehicle, according to police.

After she drove a short distance up the highway, officers were able to block her SUV and arrest her. They found she had a small child in the vehicle who was not injured.

Byron is about 100 miles south of Atlanta.

No one was seriously hurt during the incident, police said.

The Peach County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation. The office did not immediately return a request for comment from McClatchy News.

This story was originally published July 19, 2022 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Driver evading cops with child in SUV rams into witnesses, vehicles, Georgia police say."