Stolen U-Haul filmed going airborne during high-speed police chase in Georgia
The truck was allegedly stolen from a U-Haul location in Decatur, Georgia.
Surveillance video shows a stolen U-Haul truck in Georgia going airborne during a high-speed chase with police.
In the video, taken Jan. 29, the truck is seen speeding up a short incline before going airborne as police followed behind.
"Came outside and I was like, 'Oh whoa, there’s a U-Haul over there,' and it was all the way at the top of the hill, and there were cops everywhere," Pat Woowong, who caught part of the chase on his surveillance camera, told ABC affiliate WSB.
The truck was taken from a U-Haul facility in Decatur, Georgia, according to an incident report from the Dekalb County Police Department.
The launching of the truck occurred after an officer saw the U-Haul stopped at a green light, "impeding the flow of traffic," an incident report said. The officer saw the truck turning into the Economy Hotel nearby, after which the officer waited for units to conduct a traffic stop. The initial officer saw the vehicle leaving the hotel and stepped out of his vehicle with a gun to stop the driver, Christopher Arline, 19, and his passenger, Undra Williams, 43. Arline continued driving, almost hitting the officer and crashing into another police vehicle.
Police said in the report that Williams was later seen getting out of the truck and that he was detained before being ultimately released. Officers continued pursuing the stolen U-Haul at a “moderate speed” before the vehicle crashed into a fence. WSB reported that the vehicle crashed at the Inman Park/Reynoldstown MARTA station in Atlanta. Arline fled on foot, but officers were able to catch up to him and take him into custody.
Arline was booked in the DeKalb County Jail. Online jail records show that he was charged with theft by receiving stolen property, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and willful obstruction of law enforcement officers.
The vehicle was one of 13 vehicles that had been stolen from the same U-Haul location in the past three months, WSB reported. U-Haul told ABC News that video systems and motion-detection surveillance had been recently upgraded at that location and lighting on the property would also be getting upgraded.