A Cobb County, Georgia man is behind bars after police say he chased down a woman with his car and tried to hit her multiple times, all because she said good morning to him.
The victim was out exercising in her neighborhood near the Sedgefield apartment complex when she greeted a stranger walking nearby. Investigators say that simple greeting set off a terrifying chase. The woman ended up hiding behind a dumpster and calling 911, speaking in a whisper so the suspect, identified as Jesse Davis, wouldn’t hear her over the phone.
The 911 call captured just how close the danger got. Both the dispatcher and the victim could hear Davis’s car getting closer as she hid. Police say he got into his vehicle and attempted to run her over, then came back and tried at least two more times before the ordeal ended.
A neighbor who was also out that morning told local news he saw Davis speeding through the neighborhood and nearly hit his own car before the suspect turned his attention toward the victim. The chase eventually ended when Davis crashed his vehicle, first striking another car near the complex and then colliding with a light pole. Officers found him at the crash site.
How Police Tracked Him Down
Despite being in fear for her life, the victim managed to memorize Davis’s license plate number during the chase, reported WSB-TV. That detail turned out to be the key piece of evidence that helped police identify and locate him after the crash.
It’s a good reminder that a plate number, even one caught in a moment of panic, can make all the difference in an investigation.
A Random and Unmotivated Attack
Police have said this appears to have been a random encounter, and investigators have not released a clear motive for why a simple greeting escalated into an attempted hit and run.
Davis sustained facial injuries in the final crash and was taken into custody at the scene.
Our Take
Cars are supposed to get us to work, to the store, to wherever we need to be. They’re not supposed to become weapons over something as small as a stranger saying good morning. What stands out most here is the victim’s presence of mind.
Hiding behind a dumpster while whispering to a 911 dispatcher takes a level of composure most of us hope we’d have but hope we never have to test. Her memorized license plate did what it was supposed to do. It got a dangerous driver off the road and into police custody.