Officer Dragged In One of Two Duluth Police Chases

DULUTH, GA -- Duluth Police have been busy this week, with two dramatic chases with suspects happening in just two days.

In the first, on Tuesday, a suspect dragged a police officer behind his car before he was eventually caught, hiding in a pretzel shop in Gwinnett Place Mall.

In the second, a suspect reportedly tried to bury marijuana in a resident's backyard before police caught him.

It all began at about 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, when Duluth Police officer Clifford Cavorsi pulled over 17-year-old Tyler Le Tran.

According to police incident reports, during the stop, in a subdivision off of Sugarloaf Parkway, Tran drove away, dragging Cavorsi alongside the car for several feet. Not seriously injured, Cavorsi was able to continue the chase, calling others officers in for backup.

The chase twisted and turned in the area of Sugarloaf and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and, at one point, police lost sight of Tran. But his vehicle was later spotted at Gwinnett Place Mall.

Officers consulted with mall security, which told them Tran had been seen near Auntie Anne's pretzel shop, in the food court, and that his girlfriend works there, according to the reports.

After initially telling police that no one else was at the shop, the girlfriend, Glenda Novellan, 19, of Norcross, told police she had allowed Tran to hide in the back of the store.

She was charged with obstructing a police officer and possession of a small amount of marijuana, based on a joint officers found while searching her vehicle.

Tran faces multiple felony charges, including assaulting a police officer.

On Wednesday, a second teen was the suspect in a Duluth Police chase after an officer reported smelling marijuana during a stop for a seat belt violation.

Nicolas Torres-Quintero, 17, was fleeing police when his car slammed violently into a tree in a neighborhood on Old Coach Road, said Duluth Police spokesman Maj. Don Woodruff.

The tree reportedly fell and Torres-Quintero also hit several power boxes, knocking out power to several homes.

He then fled on foot, Woodruff said, and was arrested shortly thereafter.

During the foot chase, Torres-Quintero stopped in the backyard of a home in the neighborhood and attempted to bury some marijuana in the ground, WSB-TV reported.

Police say canine units sniffed out the marijuana soon afterward.

It was all enough to make Duluth Police take to Facebook Wednesday, to hope for something many police officers may suspect is unlikely.

"We are hoping for a quiet St. Patty's day tomorrow!" the department wrote, atop a post about the chases.

(Photo courtesy Duluth Police Department)