Wild Police Chase Ends When Jeep Plows Into Gilmer Street House

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A Cartersville man who authorities say plowed his Jeep into a Gilmer Street house is in jail Wednesday, charged with felony serious injury by vehicle, damage to property and various misdemeanors.

Manuel Reyes was first spotted Monday evening driving about 20 mph over the limit on Red Top Mountain Road. But when Bartow deputies turned on their flashing lights to stop him, Reyes instead sped up and led them on a wild chase through Cartersville. According to the incident report as reported by WBHF Community Radio, Reyes at times topped 100 mph.

Reyes eventually crashed his Jeep into a home on Gilmer Street occupied by Joshua Alvarez-Ramos, who said he heard tires screeching and then the sound of impact.

“I thought someone was watching a movie,” Alvarez-Ramos said to Atlanta news station WAGA-TV. “I thought it was ‘Fast and Furious’ on TV.”

Alvarez-Ramos and his family emerged unscathed, but his roof was in the yard and the porch and the family van were destroyed, according to the Atlanta TV station.

Reyes tried to escape on foot but was caught soon thereafter by Bartow County sheriff’s deputies. An unidentified female also in the Jeep had to be airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital for her injuries. Deputies were told a third person also was in the Jeep, but that person may have slipped away during the commotion.

As of Wednesday, Reyes is being held at the Bartow County Jail, where he’s charged with felony injury by vehicle, felony criminal damage to property and various misdemeanors related to his driving. His bond has been set at $18,000.

Hear the story from WBHF Community Radio.