DULUTH, Ga. — While police searched for a hit-and-run driver who’d just caused multiple crashes in Duluth, he was inside the Popeyes next door watching them work, according to police.
Duluth police got the call around 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday after witnesses reported a beige Volvo driving on the wrong side of Pleasant Hill Road.
The Volvo clipped one car, crashed into another, and forced a third driver off the road trying to avoid a head-on collision.
When officers showed up, they found damaged vehicles everywhere, but the Volvo’s driver was gone. Turns out he didn’t go far.
“He was sitting in Popeyes the entire time,” one officer remarked on body cam video obtained by Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson. “He was literally sitting at that table watching everybody.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- 3 people killed in crash that shuts down I-75 in north Georgia
- Execution date set for man who killed 2 real estate agents in Cobb County in 2003
- Bird strike forces Delta flight to declare emergency, caught on video
Officers found James Mann, 53, walking outside the restaurant and arrested him.
Police said Mann’s eyes were droopy and his speech slurred, but they didn’t smell any alcohol.
Inside his Volvo, they found a prescription bottle for 120 Xanax pills filled earlier that day, according to a police report. Seven pills were already missing.
A Johns Creek police sergeant trained as a drug recognition expert said Mann appeared to be under the influence of a central nervous system depressant, per the report.
Mann was taken to a hospital for evaluation and now faces charges including DUI, hit-and-run, reckless driving, and driving on the wrong side of the road.
Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.
©2025 Cox Media Group
