Around the Region: Police Chase Ends in Rollover Crash, Museum Entertainer Dies in Auto Accident and DNA Testing Links Prisoner to Two Rapes

– Douglasville Patch

Two unidentified men are in the hospital and will face stolen vehicle and other charges after they attempted to elude the  Wednesday afternoon.

Shortly after 1 p.m., Douglasville Police were notified of a felony alcohol shoplifting at a local package store. An officer spotted the suspect vehicle a short time later and a chase ensued. The driver eventually lost control of the vehicle and the car left the road, went airborne and flipped over.

The driver and the passenger attempted to flee but the driver had a broken leg with the bone protruding from the skin near the ankle. The driver was taken to Grady Hospital and the other man was taken to Douglas Wellstar Hospital.

The vehicle is suspected of being stolen from DeKalb County. The suspects are facing charges of felony shoplifting, vehicle theft, attempting to elude a police officer and other traffic violations.

– Cartersville Patch

Booth Western Art Museum's entertainment and sponsorship manager Doc Stovall was killed in a car crash Wednesday morning. He was in his mid 70s, according to Bartow County Coroner Joel Guyton.

"A sad day at Booth Museum as we mourn the loss of our good friend Doc Stovall," the museum's Facebook page says. "Please keep Doc's family in your thoughts and prayers. He will be greatly missed by the entire Booth family."

A well known Western singer and cowboy poet honored in 2002 as Georgia’s Official Cowboy Balladeer and in 2004 as the first cowboy singer inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame, Stovall led discussions, gave presentations and performed at the museum, according to the Booth's website.

– Norcross Patch

A 27-year-old man has been linked to two Norcross-area rape incidents, according to a press release from the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Detectives were able to narrow down the suspect, Jerson Antonio Gomez, through a DNA "hit" on CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System. DNA samples from the two incidents were collected and submitted to the GBI Crime Lab, and they ended up matching Gomez's DNA.

Gomez's warrant charges include kidnapping and rape in the first case and burglary, rape, false imprisonment and robbery in the second case.

The suspect was already in custody at the Robert Deyton Federal Detention Facility in Lovejoy, Ga., and had been there since 2010. He was also charged with similar crimes in Emerson, Ga.