Suspect arrested after police chase ends in crash near local middle school

A pursuit involving a stolen vehicle ended Wednesday afternoon after an officer used a PIT maneuver to stop a fleeing suspect on GA-25.

Arrest and charges

The chase began around 4:48 p.m. near GA-25 and GA-516.

Savannah police requested assistance from the Georgia State Patrol, but Post 42 troopers were unavailable.

The suspect fled southbound using emergency lanes to get away from Savannah police and Chatham County sheriff’s deputies.

Authorities said the driver briefly pulled into the entrance of Southwest Middle School, hit an unmarked police vehicle while fleeing back onto GA-25, and continued driving.

The officer in the unmarked car then executed a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) to halt the pursuit due to the driver’s reckless actions.

The maneuver caused the stolen vehicle to rotate, run off the road, overturn, and land nose-down in an adjacent ditch.

The suspect was taken into custody with minor injuries; no officers were hurt. The stolen car sustained disabling damage, while the unmarked cruiser received minor damage.