Cops Shoot Man Accused of Stealing Police Car

WOODSTOCK, GA -- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating an officer-involved shooting following a multi-jurisdictional police chase of a suspect accused of stealing a sheriff's deputy's patrol car.

The GBI was called in to assist with the case around 9 p.m. Saturday, July 16 along Highway 92 at Dixie Drive in unincorporated Woodstock.

A preliminary investigation indicates a deputy with the Bartow County Sheriff's Office responded to a call Saturday evening of a suspicious person around Arrington Road in unincorporated Acworth. The deputy was able to track down the man later identified as Lorenzo Leon Taylor, 32, of Mississippi.

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According to the GBI, the Bartow sheriff's 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."

While the deputy spoke to the witness, Taylor allegedly jumped into the officer's patrol vehicle and fled the scene. The witness, the GBI notes, "appears to be a valid witness" and had no connection to the suspect.

The deputy reported the vehicle stolen around 7:30 p.m. The car's contents included a rifle that was secured inside the vehicle.

Bartow sheriff's deputies pursued the stolen sheriff’s car into Cobb and Cherokee counties. Cobb County police officers and Cherokee sheriff's deputies joined in the pursuit. Law enforcement deployed several attempts to stop the stolen patrol car, but were unsuccessful throughout the pursuit.

Officers were able to spin out the stolen patrol car around 8:20 p.m. on Highway 92 at Dixie Drive. That didn't stop Taylor, as he continue to flee arrest and "drove around some officers and in the direction of others," the GBI said.

At that moment, Bartow sheriff's deputies fired shots at Taylor, who was struck twice. Officers were subsequently able to stop the car, and converged on the suspect who was inside the patrol vehicle.

"As officers attempted to take Taylor into custody, he snatched one of the Bartow deputy’s guns away from him," the GBI said. "The officers tackled Taylor and tasered him, and eventually they were able to take the deputy’s gun away from him."

No shots were fired during this scuffle, but one officer did suffer minor injuries during the pursuit.

Taylor was transported to an area hospital where he was treated. While at the hospital, the GBI notes Taylor was combative towards medical staff and deputies had to once again use a Taser on the man.

Taylor was sedated by medical staff and turned over to the Bartow County Sheriff's Office on charges in connection to stealing the patrol vehicle. Additional charges are pending for Taylor, the state agency adds.

The rifle inside the patrol vehicle remained secured throughout the chase, but the GBI states "evidence was presented" that Taylor tried to remove the firearm.

The GBI will conduct an investigation to determine what happened during the incident. Once that investigation is complete, the case file will be turned over to the Cherokee County District Attorney's Office for review.

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Photo: Lorenzo Leon Taylor. Credit: Bartow County Jail