04.07.09
Wrong-Way DUI Driver
A local Atlanta incident last week showed how a DUI can get from bad to worse very quickly:
Wrong-way DUI driver begs cops to shoot him
By MIKE MORRISThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, March 27, 2009
An overnight high-speed chase of a driver who police said was “highly intoxicated” ended when the suspect wrecked while going the wrong way on an Alpharetta road, then asked officers to shoot him.
Instead, the officers subdued the man with a stun gun and took him into custody, Alpharetta police spokesman George Gordon said.
Gordon said the incident began about 1:45 a.m. Friday when officers tried to pull over a Mercedes on Windward Parkway.
Thomas Lackey, who Gordon said is in his early 30s, did not stop and continued south on Ga. 400, reaching speeds of more than 130 mph before exiting onto Old Milton Parkway and going west in the eastbound lanes.
“It’s every officer’s nightmare,” Gordon said. “You’ve got a highly intoxicated driver fleeing at a high rate of speed with no regard for the public.”
On Old Milton Parkway, Lackey struck an Alpharetta police car before hitting a tree in the median of the road.
After wrecking, Lackey got out of the Mercedes “and started yelling to the responding officers to shoot him.”
“He was highly combative, belligerent,” Gordon said. “He resisted arrest and one of our officers Tasered the suspect and took him into custody.”
Lackey was charged with driving under the influence, fleeing and eluding, aggravated assault by motor vehicle and resisting arrest, along with numerous traffic charges.
