Two innocent people are dead after a driver fleeing a Midtown traffic stop ran a red light and slammed into an Uber vehicle full of passengers at a busy intersection Thursday morning, authorities said.
The crash happened about 2:30 a.m. at Northside Drive and 14th Street after the driver of a white Toyota RAV4 fled from an Atlanta officer, according to the Georgia State Patrol, which is investigating the deadly wreck.
Authorities said the officer tried to initiate a traffic stop a few blocks north at 17th Street. The driver of the Toyota put on their turn signal as if they were pulling over before taking off, running a red light and slamming into a Mitsubishi SUV, according to police.
The RAV4 struck the driver’s side of the ride-share vehicle, killing its driver and front-seat passenger. State troopers identified the driver of the Mitsubishi as 39-year-old Guillermo Bracho Barrios and said the passenger killed was Gemini Jerome Jackson, 27.
Three back-seat passengers in the Mitsubishi were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. The suspects also suffered serious injuries and were taken to Grady, according to police.
“We are heartbroken by the news of this terrible tragedy,” a spokesperson for Uber said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families during this difficult time, and we hope those injured recover swiftly.”
According to Atlanta police, approximately 37 seconds passed from the initiation of the traffic stop to the crash.
Several of Jackson’s loved ones gathered at a home in southwest Atlanta on Thursday afternoon as word of his death spread. His father, Gemini Jackson Sr., described his son as a good person and a hard worker.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
The Atlanta native worked as an engineer in Texas, but was home for a few days on business and to celebrate his mother’s birthday. He was scheduled to fly home Sunday evening, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“I’m crushed, heartbroken,” his father told the news station. “He was just a fun-spirited person. Very generous, very kind. He got along with everybody.”
In late 2020, Atlanta police reinstated vehicle pursuits in certain situations following a months-long ban on all chases. Former police Chief Erika Shields implemented the ban after a series of chases that left innocent motorists dead.
“Please know that I realize this will not be a popular decision; and more disconcerting to me personally is that this decision may drive crime up,” Shields acknowledged in a 2020 memo to APD supervisors.
For Shields, the reward of capturing fleeing suspects wasn’t worth putting the lives of fellow motorists at risk by engaging in high-speed chases.
“I don’t want to see us cost someone their life in pursuit of an auto theft person or burglar, when the courts aren’t even going to hold them accountable,” Shields said in defense of her decision.
The department’s chase policy was reinstated by her successor, Rodney Bryant, following a surge in violent crime, but certain restrictions were put in place. Atlanta officers can now only chase suspects accused of committing “forcible felonies,” for instance, and those being chased must present “an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury” to the officer or someone else.
A supervisor’s approval is required to initiate a chase under the revised policy, and no more than three police vehicles are allowed to join in the pursuit. Atlanta officers are also prohibited from chasing people accused of relatively minor offenses such as traffic violations, misdemeanors, property crimes and civil infractions.
Thursday’s crash investigation left all lanes of that portion of Northside Drive closed for several hours overnight. At least one lane reopened by 6:45 a.m.
Uber said the company is working to get in touch with the family of the driver killed as well as the customer who ordered the ride.
The wreck remains under investigation.
