3 arrested in Atlanta wild stolen car chase, including police impersonator
ATLANTA - It started with a stolen car, and turned into a wild chain of events. Atlanta police ended up catching three wanted criminals, including one man for pretending to be an Atlanta police officer.
The department took a report of a stolen car at a gas station on Martin Luther King Boulevard last Wednesday. The car was spotted just a couple of miles away from the West End Mall.
When officers approached the car, the driver took off. Police deployed a Stop Stick, causing the back tire to go flat.
The driver tried to drive off but didn't get very far. He crashed into a concrete median and tried to make a run for it. Police ran after him, and with the help of a neighborhood security patrol, they captured 22-year-old Jontravous Jones.
Meanwhile, other officers hung back at the car. They say they discovered a stolen gun and learned a lot more about the two passengers.
Man wanted for impersonating Atlanta police arrested in wild stolen car chase
It turns out, police had been looking for one of the passengers, 30-year-old Rakeem James, for Impersonating a police officer. In fact, police obtained a surveillance photo of him in a convenience store just a week earlier wearing an Atlanta Police jacket.
"When you have an individual with an extensive violent criminal history that is portraying himself as a police officer, that individual needs to be taken off the street," said Sgt. Andrew Fincher, the supervisor of the Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit.
(Credit: Atlanta Police Department)
Suspect falls through ceiling trying to escape Atlanta police
The other passenger, 24-year-old Jassmin Jones, had warrants from another jurisdiction. She was arrested, but her adventure didn't end there. While she was being checked out at Grady Memorial Hospital after the car crash, police say she tried to escape through the ceiling.
"Unfortunately, drop ceilings are not designed to bare the weight of a human, and she crashed into the bathroom," said Sgt. Fincher.
Atlanta police work a lot of stolen car cases. Sgt. Fincher says they had 5,325 stolen vehicles reported in 2023. Of those, 72% of the cars were recovered.
However, he says it's rare that recovering a car comes with all this mayhem. That's why they train for all types of scenarios.
"A lot of times, you have a vehicle that is simply stolen. But there are so many more factors that are involved in that, so many more layers. You always have to be prepared for the unknown," said Sgt. Fincher.