A Georgia man was arrested after stealing a 75,000-pound frontloader from a waste management facility and taking police on a wild chase. He was finally caught after an employee of the facility tracked him down in another frontloader and used it to flip the suspect's vehicle, officials said.
Eddie Sanchez, 38, was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing and reckless driving, among other charges, after police said he stole a frontloader from his former employer.
Gwinnett County Police responded at about 11 a.m. Saturday to a waste management business on Corley Road in unincorporated Norcross, where police said Sanchez, a former employee, was riding the construction vehicle around the property. Dash camera and body camera footage released by police showed police and current employees attempting to stop the uncooperative suspect.
The footage appears to show the officer calling for the suspect to stop but he was unsuccessful. The suspect continued driving, eventually leaving the property onto public roads. He exited the property onto Corley Road before traveling onto Jimmy Carter Boulevard, toward Buford Highway, and continuing onto other roads in the area.
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Officers from the Norcross Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol also assisted with the pursuit of the suspect and attempted to keep other drivers safe, although they did not have a vehicle large enough to stop the suspect in the frontloader.
Other officers continued to pursue the suspect when the initial responding officer returned to the business to find another large construction vehicle heavy enough to stop the suspect.
Then an employee suggested using another frontloader to track him down.
"How fast is it?" the officer was heard on police footage asking the unidentified employee.
"They can get up to probably about 30 [mph]," the employee responded.
"OK, grab that," the officer said. "Quick, quick, quick!"
Police then escorted the employee in that frontloader to the suspect who, at that point, was already several miles away.
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The pursuing frontloader made contact with the suspect and ultimately got the green light from responding officers to flip the suspect's vehicle onto its side.
The first frontloader was disabled on Singleton Road and Robin Hill Drive, located about five miles from where it was initially stolen from.
Sanchez was charged with theft by taking, fleeing or attempting to elude, reckless driving, criminal damage to property in the second degree and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
He was evaluated at a local hospital before being booked into the Gwinnett County Jail.
Police learned that Sanchez was fired from the business in September but visited the business several days before this incident and did something similar but never left the facility's property.
No one was injured and no other vehicles or patrol cars were damaged during the pursuit.
