Atlanta police officers knew they were chasing a stolen vehicle. But when the car crashed, one of the people inside was already a familiar name: He is a suspect in a July double homicide.
Officers tracked the stolen vehicle from the ground and the air Thursday, prompting the three people inside to flee into nearby woods, the department said. The car crashed and officers were able to arrest two of the three people.
Jontravious De’Anthony Arnold, 18, already had outstanding arrest warrants for two auto thefts when he was charged in connection with a July double homicide, according to police. But he eluded capture until he was caught in the stolen Mazda 6, reported missing Wednesday when its owner left it running while she picked up food on Spring Street, according to police.
On July 15, two men and a woman were outside the Pick’n’Pay at the corner of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and Chappell Road when shots were fired, according to police. When officers arrived, 36-year-old Joshua Evans was dead from his injuries. A second man, 42-year-old Chicorley Vickers, was also shot and taken to the hospital. The woman was grazed and not seriously injured, according to police.
Antonio Waller, 19, was later arrested and charged with murder, according to police. When Vickers died in August, the shooting became a double homicide.
In addition to two counts of murder, Arnold was arrested on a list of charges, including aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, theft by taking, entering auto, theft by receiving, fleeing and eluding, criminal damage to property in the second degree, obstruction and hit-and-run. He was booked into the Fulton County Jail, where he was being held without bond Friday afternoon.
According to police, Arnold is suspected of stealing several items from an SUV parked on Whitehall Street on Sept. 1. A handgun and Apple computer were reported stolen, and the Jeep’s owner said the suspect damaged an open window to get inside, a police report states.
In February 2020, a then-16-year-old Arnold allegedly stole a Buick Lucerne that was parked in a Cone Street parking lot, according to police. The car was later located..
In the latest incident, a second suspect who had been traveling in the stolen vehicle Thursday was also arrested, according to police. The juvenile was charged with theft by receiving an auto and obstruction.
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