In The News

Driver clings to stolen tractor as police chase it

FORSYTH, Ga. — A trucker clung to the back of his trailerless semi Tuesday while a man who commandeered the vehicle led police on a 50-mile chase down an interstate in Georgia, authorities said. The semi eventually slowed enough for the trucker to leap off near the end of the chase.

When Milo Banks, 27, stopped the semi, armed officers surrounded the truck’s cab, breaking through the windows before wrestling Banks to the ground, authorities said. Events began after trucker Torrey Lang, 32, of Lithonia, had walked away from the truck in a parking lot, then hurried back after spotting Banks climbing in, said Union City police spokesman George Louth.

“He had to run around it to avoid being hit,” he said.

Capt. Jason Bolton with the Henry County police department said authorities believe the suspect stole the truck in Union City just south of Atlanta. Bolton said county authorities helped chase the truck as it barreled south on Interstate 75 with the trucker riding on the back.

TV helicopter footage showed Lang jumping off the back of the truck and falling in the middle of the interstate as the vehicle slowed down in Monroe County.

Louth said Lang received minor scrapes from his tumble to the ground and remained in Monroe County, where he was being interviewed by GBI agents

“I just want to see him myself to make sure he is OK,” said Tanya Lang, Torrey’s grandmother, speaking with The Associated Press by telephone. “I’ve been trying call to reach him all day. I just want to make sure he’s OK.”

Banks, of Albany, was taken to the Monroe County jail and later transferred to a county jail in south Fulton County, Louth said. Louth said Banks faces a charge of felony theft of a motor vehicle and an initial court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday morning. He did not know if Banks had a lawyer.

A state trooper was treated at a hospital for a superficial gunshot wound to the shoulder that occurred when officers sought to pull Banks from the truck, said Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting, he added.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected] .