Crime & Safety

Inside the Police Reports: Is That the Cops? I Better Go Faster

As soon as one Snellville teen saw those blue lights and siren go off, his first instinct was not to stop, but to go faster.

A Snellville teen was arrested on multiple driving citations after police originally pulled over the juvenile for not having his headlights on.

According to the Snellville Police report, the officer noticed the unlit minivan on East Main Street around 10:10 p.m. on a recent Saturday. As soon as the officer's blue lights were activated, the minivan's lights came on, but the driver didn't pull over.

Instead, he made a sudden right turn onto Oak Road. The officer then activated the car's siren, but the minivan only accelerated. It made another turn, then suddenly slowed and finally stopped in front of a post office.

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The officer spoke with the driver and told him his original reason for pulling him over. When asked why he didn't have his headlights on, the boy told police that he and his 11-year-old brother, who was in the backseat, were just returning from the Snellville Oaks movie theatre and were going to get some dinner before going home. He simply forgot to turn on his lights, he said.

He then contradicted himself. He told the officer that he realized his lights weren't on when he saw the police lights, so the officer asked why he didn't stop. The driver said he didn't realize he was being pulled over, nor did he see the police lights or hear the siren. 

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Police pointed out the contradiction to the teen and explained his speed and erratic driving jeopardized everyone on the road. The driver responded with saying that they were just hungry and wanted some food.

At the beginning of the questioning, the teen told the officer that he had a license, but it wasn't on him. Police ran his information through the Gwinnett database and nothing showed up.

The officer asked the driver again if he had a license, and this time, he denied having one.

The juvenile was arrested on charges of driving without headlights, driving while unlicensed, too fast for conditions, failure to maintain lane, reckless driving and fleeing/attempting to elude.

Police contacted the offender's mother to come and pick him up. She told the officer that she didn't know he had taken her car, and she would be on her way as soon as she found a ride.


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