Gwinnett man chases car break-in suspect in stolen moving truck, police say
Story GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A car break-in at a Suwanee hotel Sunday night led to a chase on Interstate 85 that ended with police arresting a suspect who they say had stolen a Home Depot truck hours earlier. Chase Hightower was settling in for the night at the Red...
Story
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A car break-in at a Suwanee hotel Sunday night led to a chase on Interstate 85 that ended with police arresting a suspect who they say had stolen a Home Depot truck hours earlier.
Chase Hightower was settling in for the night at the Red Roof Inn on Lawrenceville Suwanee Road around 11:30 when another guest knocked on his door with news.
“This dude just pulled up in this Home Depot truck, and he basically took a lot of stuff out of your car,” the neighbor told him.
Someone had ransacked the car belonging to the mother of Hightower’s child, stealing valuable items and sensitive information.
“He took a lot of valuable things from us, like the ultrasound, a lot of paper documents with our addresses, information, stuff like that,” Hightower told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson.
That drove him to jump in the car and pursue the suspect, who police say rammed Hightower’s car and forced him onto the median before racing toward I-85.
The chase turned dangerous when the suspect lost control and scraped along the interstate wall.
“He hits the wall and like, is driving on the wall for like, 200 feet, just sparks and everything flying off the wall,” Hightower said.
Hightower stayed on the phone with Suwanee police during the two-exit chase, providing real-time updates on the suspect’s location and license plate.
Officers caught up and then arrested 26-year-old Craig Theodore Nelson near Exit 107. Nelson faces seven charges, including felony theft and reckless driving.
The truck had been stolen from a Flowery Branch Home Depot earlier that night, police said.
“Who knows where he was going next, or like, if he would have run into somebody or killed somebody,” Hightower said.
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