Wild police chase across Bartow, Cherokee counties

GBI press release

   Cherokee County, Georgia –  On Saturday, July 16, 2016, at approximately 9:00 PM, the GBI was requested by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office to investigate an officer involved shooting incident that occurred at Highway 92 and Dixie Drive after a multi-jurisdictional vehicle pursuit involving a stolen Bartow County Sheriff’s patrol car ended in Cherokee County.

    Preliminary information indicates that a Bartow County Sheriff’s Deputy had responded to a suspicious person entering autos call in the area of Arrington Road in Acworth, Bartow County. The deputy located the suspicious person who was subsequently identified as Lorenzo Leon Taylor, age 32, of Mississippi.  The deputy was in the process of a field interview with Taylor when he was approached by a witness who had additional information about the suspicious person call.  As the deputy was speaking with the witness, Taylor entered the deputy’s patrol car and fled.  The witness appears to be a valid witness and has no connection to Taylor.

At approximately 7:30 PM, the deputy immediately reported his vehicle stolen to include his police rifle that was secured inside the patrol car.  Bartow County deputies pursued the stolen sheriff’s car into Cobb and Cherokee Counties.  Cobb County Police and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office joined the pursuit.  Several attempts to stop the stolen sheriff’s car were unsuccessful throughout the pursuit.

At approximately 8:20 PM, officers spun-out the stolen sheriff’s car at Highway 92 and Dixie Drive in Cherokee County.  Taylor continued to attempt to flee arrest and drove around some officers and in the direction of others.  As a result, Bartow County deputies fired shots at Taylor.  Officers were able to immobilize the stolen sheriff’s car and converged on Taylor who was still inside the stolen sheriff’s car.  As officers attempted to take Taylor into custody, he snatched one of the Bartow deputy’s guns away from him.  The officers tackled Taylor and Tasered him and eventually they were able to take the deputy’s gun away from him.  No shots were exchanged during this scuffle.

One officer suffered minor injuries during the chase. Taylor was shot twice and was transported to an area hospital where he was treated. Taylor became combative toward medical staff and deputies at which point a Taser was deployed on Taylor. Taylor was sedated by medical personnel and subsequently released to the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office on charges associated with stealing the patrol car in Bartow County.  Additional charges are pending.

The police rifle remained secured inside the stolen sheriff’s car; however, evidence was present that Taylor attempted to remove it. 

The GBI will conduct an independent investigation to determine what occurred during the incident.  When the investigation is complete, it will be turned over to the Cherokee County District Attorney's Office for review.