A 22-year-old Dalton man died Tuesday night following a high-speed chase after driving more than 100 mph on I-75 northbound in Catoosa County near the Tennessee line, Georgia State Patrol says.
Hugo Urbano Chavez was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash near Exit 348, which is near Ringgold, a GSP spokesperson said. GSP said a passenger, 30-year-old Dalton man Angel Aleman, was transported from the scene of the crash to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga in serious condition.
Chavez was driving a black 2015 Infiniti Q50 that a trooper recorded traveling northbound on I-75 at 114 mph at 8:12 p.m. Tuesday, the spokesperson said. That was near mile marker 342.
“The trooper attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver failed to pull over, initiating a pursuit,” the spokesperson said. “There was no contact between the trooper’s patrol vehicle and the driver’s vehicle.”
Chavez lost control of the Infiniti while passing on the left shoulder of the interstate at a high rate of speed, according to GSP. The agency said the Infiniti crossed all northbound lanes of I-75 near Exit 348 and left the roadway.
“The vehicle began to overturn before it stopped between the northbound lanes and exit ramp 348,” the spokesperson said.
The pursuing trooper’s vehicle also crashed.
“The trooper’s vehicle struck the guardrail in the median before crossing the northbound lanes and exiting the interstate where it stopped between the northbound lanes and Exit 348,” the agency spokesperson said.
GSP’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is investigating, the spokesperson said.
The state law enforcement agency has come under scrutiny in recent months following an investigation this summer by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The agency has said its pursuit policy is based on state and federal law, judicial rulings, dedicated training and sound principles of law enforcement, and is “proportionally responsive” to the rise of crime on roadways, including street racing, aggressive driving and speeding.
The AJC investigation of 6,700 GSP pursuits found more than half ended in crashes. More than 3,400 crashes involving GSP pursuits left at least 1,900 people injured and 63 killed between 2019 and 2023.
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