OFF THE WIRE
http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2010/09/chase-reaches-100-mph-on-side.html Chase Reaches 100+ MPH on Side Streets By Jon Lewis @ September 21, 2010 7:49 AM Permalink | Comments (9) (WSB Radio) This was no ordinary police chase.
A Georgia State Patrol officer is lucky to be alive today, following an early morning chase that went along Atlanta's side streets at speeds that reached triple digits.
It began at about 3 a.m., when Trooper T.A. Rinehart spotted a motorcycle speeding along the downtown connector, near Spring Street.
After fleeing south on the connector to I-20 and west on I-20, the motorcycle exited onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and continued onto Westlake Avenue.
"As we were traveling on these surface streets, on Westlake, headed toward Donald Lee Hollowell, we were reaching speeds in excess of 120 to 130 miles an hour," says Trooper Rinehart. "The posted speed limit in the area is 35 miles per hour.
"The individual was traveling on the wrong side of the road," Rinehart says, "traveling at high rates of speed, failing to maintain his lane, traveling through numerous red lights and numerous stop signs without hesitating."
The chase led the rider and the trooper to Marietta Boulevard. That's were the motorcycle driver went off the road and down a 30 foot embankment.
Trooper Rinehart wasn't able to stop his cruiser in time and also plunged down the cliff-like embankment.
"I did exit off that same area of the roadway and did travel through the air,: Rinehart says. "I saw the Earth coming to me very quickly and, before I knew it, the airbags deployed, the seat belt cinched me up and it was a very abrupt stop."
The motorcycle, it turns out, had been stolen.
The suspect was taken to Grady where he is expected to fully recover from his injuries.
Trooper Rinehart suffered some minor injuries, but did not need to be taken to the hospital.
Charges against the suspect are pending.
