Detectives were questioning three people Wednesday afternoon after the stolen car they were in collided with two police cars.
The three males were arrested after colliding with a Georgia State Patrol car that was attempting to block their path on Interstate 516 and then sideswiped a Savannah-Chatham police car. All three were taken into custody at the scene, said metro police spokesman Julian Miller.
The 2013 Nissan Altima they were driving was taken in the robbery of a 28-year-old man in front of his apartment on West Oglethorpe Avenue on Tuesday night. The owner told police he was sitting in the car about 11 p.m. when a man placed a box cutter to his face, ordered him out of the vehicle and drove away in it, Miller said.
Detectives are attempting to determine if anyone in the car was involved in the carjacking or other offenses. Police will not release names unless charges are filed, Miller said.
The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the collision, and any charges will be filed by metro police.
Miller said undercover agents from the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team identified the car traveling on 37th Street and alerted a metro officer who attempted a traffic stop just before 1 p.m.. The car sped away and the metro officer discontinued the pursuit, but a state trooper in the area interceded. He attempted to corral the Altima on a bridge on I-516, but it struck his car and then sideswiped the metro car, Miller said.
Damage to each police car was slight, but the Altima received heavier damage and had to be towed away, Miller said.
Police credit witnesses
While witnesses directly contributed to arrests in two recent westside Savannah homicides, Savannah-Chatham police homicide detectives are asking for the community’s help in solving three others since last June.
Maurice Lipsey, 51, of the 600 block of Cleland Street, was found shot to death beside a relative’s house on the 500 block of Cleland in the Hudson Hill area about 7 a.m. June 20, 2012, said police spokesman Julian Miller. He had been shot multiple times.
On March 13, Williams Bass Jr., 33, was found shot to death beside West Bay Street by patrol officers responding to a shooting call about 1 a.m. Miller said he was clutching two $1 bills when he died.
William George Anderson, 24, was found dead about 8 a.m. Nov. 3, 2012, near a picnic table in the park with multiple gunshot wounds.
Anyone with information on any of the cases is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 912-234-2020 or text CRIMES (274637). Tipsters remain anonymous and may qualify for a cash reward.
A confidential tip line also is open directly to investigators at 912-525-3124.
Saturday lane closure on Abercorn
Georgia Department of Transportation contractors on Saturday will install an lane closure on Abercorn Street between Largo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard.
From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. the eastbound lane of Abercorn will close for asphalt paving. The closure will continue Sunday if the work is not completed in one day.
Motorists are advised to reduce speeds as they travel through the construction work zone.
Compiled by Dash Coleman and Corey Dickstein