A man was seriously injured while fleeing from police in Lawrenceville in a stolen pickup truck on April 11 after a collision involving a Lawrenceville Police Department cruiser.
According to a crash report from the Georgia State Patrol, Rickey Eugene Loyd, 56, of Sugar Hill, was fleeing from a Georgia State Patrol trooper in a stolen Toyota Tundra at about 1 p.m. heading southbound on North Clayton Street. The trooper, Nathan Marett, performed a PIT maneuver on the truck near Oak Street, causing it to rotate onto its side and slide into the northbound lanes of the roadway. The vehicle had reportedly already fled from Gwinnett County Police twice earlier that day.
A Lawrenceville Police Officer, Jeffrey Krueger, was simultaneously approaching the two vehicles driving northbound on the roadway with emergency equipment activated. The Lawrenceville Police Officer was unable to avoid the truck after the trooper performed the PIT maneuver, causing it to strike the overturned Toyota head-on as it slid into the northbound lanes.
Loyd was transported to a local hospital with suspected serious injuries. He was later booked into the Gwinnett County Jail, where he remained as of Wednesday afternoon.
Marett, Krueger, and a Lawrenceville Police recruit who was also inside the cruiser at the time of the incident all suffered suspected minor injuries.
In a statement on social media, the Lawrenceville Police Department said they were thankful for a positive outcome.
"We are extremely grateful that our Officer and recruit only sustained minor injuries during this incident," the social media post said. "We wanted to thank our community, particularly those citizens that helped keep our recruit safe while our officer rejoined the fight. Our officer relied on his training and remained calm during the entire incident."
The agency also posted a full video of the incident, which you can see above or by clicking here.
