Woman in Critical Condition After Accident

A Buford woman remains in the intensive care unit at Grady Hospital after being injured in . A hospital spokeswoman said the victim is listed in critical condition.

It took fire crews just over an hour to extricate the victim from her vehicle. Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services public information officer Capt. Tommy Rutledge said the long extrication was due to the entanglement of the victim’s lower extremities in the wreckage. The victim was life-flighted to Grady.

According to witnesses, the vehicle that caused the accident was traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Braselton Highway. One witness estimated the suspect vehicle was traveling in excess of 70 miles per hour. The suspect vehicle reportedly clipped another car before crossing the center line and striking the victim’s car head-on.

The driver of the suspect vehicle was also entrapped and had to be extricated. He was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center with serious injuries. Two people in the car that was clipped were also transported to an area hospital.

According to Gwinnett County Police Department public information officer Cpl. Edwin Ritter, GCPD officers had been dispatched to the area in response to a report of a possibly drunk driver being followed by a concerned citizen.

"One of our officers caught up to the vehicle and attempted to stop it with lights and siren on," Ritter said. "Once the suspect realized he was being pulled over he took off at a high rate of speed from the officer. The officer chose not to chase and turned off his lights and siren."

The accident occurred a couple of minutes later, Ritter said.

"Our officer chose not to pursue based on the traffic conditions and the safety of others. This suspect made the conscious decision to run from the police when ordered to stop and continued to flee at a high rate of speed without being chased or followed by any Gwinnett County Police Officer and subsequently caused a serious accident," Ritter said.

The accident remains under investigation.