Exclusive: High speed chase eyewitness talks - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Exclusive: High speed chase eyewitness talks

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By Tametria Conner - bio | email
The suspect's truck sits destroyed along I-65 Monday after he crashed into an Alabama State Trooper's car. The suspect's truck sits destroyed along I-65 Monday after he crashed into an Alabama State Trooper's car.
The Alabama State Trooper's car sits along the road after being hit. The Alabama State Trooper's car sits along the road after being hit.

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BUTLER CO., AL (WSFA) -

They were trapped in the middle of a high speed chase, fearing for their lives.

"He was coming right at us and it was scary. We didn't know if he was going to swerve and hit us. We didn't know if there was going to be a crash in front of us or if he was going to crash into us," Atlanta resident Patrick Berg said.

Three college friends: Berg, Bobby Shelley and Margaret Shepard were heading back home to Atlanta on I-65 after a fun Labor Day weekend at Orange Beach.

You can hear Shepard nearly weeping in fear.

"And then we just saw several cars and a white truck speed past us. We didn't know if anybody was going to start shooting," Berg said.

Patrick was in the back seat. He recorded the chase on his cell phone as Alabama State Troopers and Greenville police tried to stop the reckless driver.

"The police cars formed a box around the truck like they were trying to block him in, right as they were passing us and then we saw him swerve a few times trying to break out of that box and we followed him for a while," Berg said.

Patrick says the driver ran several vehicles off the road. He even hit two Greenville police cars and tried to run over a state trooper, but instead hit his car, ending the chase.

"We saw him slam on his brakes, and we saw the tire marks and then he swerved hard left and cut across the median and turned around and started going back the other direction. And that's when I got another glance at the driver and he was checking in mirrors and had an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth," Berg said.

Thankfully, they were unharmed and continued on the interstate, still shaken up over what they just witnessed.

The man who led police on the high speed chase was injured and airlifted to a Pensacola Hospital. He later died, according to police. 

Berg says this is the second chase he has witnessed in less than two weeks. The other chase was on I-85 as he was driving from South Carolina to Atlanta. No one was hurt in the incident.

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