Driver Dies After Overnight Police Chase Ends in Crash Outside Kennesaw Neighborhood
A BMW SUV fleeing a Cobb County officer lost control, struck a stone neighborhood sign and plunged into woods, killing the driver and injuring a passenger.
By Jayden Sweiler ·
One person died and another was hospitalized after a high-speed pursuit through Cobb County overnight ended in a crash in Kennesaw, according to police.
Cobb County police said that shortly after midnight, an officer spotted a 2013 BMW X5 traveling at a high rate of speed on Ernest Barnett Parkway. When the officer attempted to stop the driver, the vehicle sped away, officials said.
Doorbell camera video provided by a FOX 5 viewer showed a black BMW SUV racing down Frey Road in Kennesaw, with a police squad car following close behind.
Police said the SUV lost control as it tried to turn near the intersection with Abington Walk. It slammed into the stone Abington Green neighborhood sign, then went airborne into nearby woods and hit several trees.
Neighbor Paul Clark said the commotion was hard to miss. "We heard a loud bang like a crash, and we went outside to see what was going on and we couldn't see anything," he said. He checked his camera and saw a large emergency response. "There were 12-13 cop cars in tandem that came by, came rushing through and then two ambulances and then the fire trucks," Clark said.
He described the uncertainty of the moment. "It's kind of a situation where you want to know if everyone is OK, but you want to stay in your house because you don't know what's happening," Clark said. Earlier, he recalled, "it was an orchestra of chaos with just a bunch of cars and everything."
The SUV ended up so deep in the woods that an ordinary tow truck could not remove it, and police brought in specialized equipment to pull it out. Access to the neighborhood was blocked while that work took place.
Officials confirmed to FOX 5 that the SUV's driver died. Medics took the passenger to a local hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Investigators have not released any information about the person who died, including gender or place of residence.
The crash remains under investigation. Clark said living near the intersection can be stressful at times, noting heavy traffic at all hours. "It can be pretty intrusive, at times. It's just a lot of cars going through at all hours, so it really wasn't anything that I was very surprised by," he said.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Cobb County Police Department STEP Unit at (770) 499-3987.
Source: FOX 5 Atlanta
