Irate resident seizes, wrecks police car
Carlos Fries - Staff Atlanta Journal Constitution
Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - GA

GWINNETT COUNTY - When police got a call from the daughter of 
Jack E. Hopkins, she had already told them he was "acting crazy."

Then he got his hands on a police car.

When police arrived at the Norcross home on Reddington Lane, 
Hopkins greeted them by waving a pair of eight-inch butcher 
knives, threatening the officers and pleading that they shoot 
him, said Gwinnett County Cpl. Ray Dunlap.

Trying to avoid having to fulfill Hopkins' wish, officers 
inadvertently cleared a path to an older-model police car 
left running by a rookie officer, Dunlap said.

Hopkins jumped in, tried to run down two officers at the scene, 
and crashed into another squad car to start an eight-mile chase. 
He sideswiped two other cars before totaling the police car, 
police said. The chase ended near Pleasant Hill Road.

And it all happened within 24 minutes.

Hopkins was charged with one count of auto theft and 
five counts of assault on a police officer. He is accused 
of attempting to stab them and run them over.

He remains in the Owinneft County Detention Center and may 
undergo psychiatric evaluation, Dunlap said.

Dunlap said the rookie officer would not face any departmental 
charges.


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