Douglasville GA, Suspect Stole Police Car - Taunted Police over the Police Radio, Took Shot Gun - Arrested
October 29, 2005
DOUGLASVILLE -- A man stole a police cruiser, threatened violence over police radio, then took off on foot with a stolen police shotgun, Douglasville police said. Officers arrested James Eugene Williams after an intense three-hour manhunt.
According to police, Williams, 32 of Columbus, had gotten into some kind of fight with his girlfriend at a convenience store around 3:00 a.m. Saturday. When officers pulled them over on Interstate 20 for questioning, Williams ran off in one direction while his girlfriend took off in another direction. At some point while officers gave chase on foot, Williams jumped into an empty cruiser and drove off.
Williams then got on the police radio in the cruiser and started making threats.
"He advised over the radio that he had unhooked the shotgun [in the cruiser] and was going to kill everybody," said Douglasville Police Chief Joe Whisenant. "It was a real scary situation for us at that time."
The threats triggered an intense manhunt over an eight-square-mile area of Douglas County. At one point, up to 100 officers from Douglasville as well as the Atlanta Police Department and Georgia State Patrol were helping in the search.
Officers arrested Williams just before 7:00 a.m. at a RaceTrac gas station on Fairburn Road. They said they also recovered the stolen shotgun and police cruiser.
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