Truck driver parked in emergency lane leads police on chase after being asked to leave

A truck driver led police on a chase through Georgia after initially refusing to move his truck out of an emergency lane along an exit ramp. 

The incident began on Wednesday afternoon, November 20th near Emerson, Georgia. 

According to Fox5Atlanta, the semi truck was parked in an emergency lane along an exit ramp near Emerson when an officer knocked on his cab door and warned him that he needed to move or he’d be ticketed. The officer left and returned a while later to find the truck still parked in the emergency lane. The officer then asked the driver for his license, but the truck driver refused, reversed into a patrol car, and drove away. 

Officers from the Cartersville Police, Bartow County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia State Patrol all participated in the pursuit of the truck driver, but the driver would not stop until his tires were shredded by spike strips near the Interstate 75 exit ramp and State Road 20 in Cartersville. 

“I saw a semi stopped surrounded by at least 20 cop cars and cops had their guns drawn,” said witness Chris Ensworth. 

“They tried to make contact with him, he wouldn’t open the door, they busted out the window. He came to the door and looked like he was moving his arms around, kind of flailing his arms, he got to the door, the cops reached for him, he pushed them back and that’s when they tased him… Turned him over and cuffed him, and they quickly put him in the cop car,” Ensworth continued. 

The truck driver has been booked into the Bartow County jail. No further information on the incident or charges against the driver has been released.