A stolen vehicle crashed into the Waffle House in Cornelia early Saturday morning following a high-speed pursuit that began in Demorest, according to a Demorest Police Department incident report.
The crash caused significant damage to the restaurant, with the vehicle breaking through an exterior wall and entering the building. Tables and fixtures inside the restaurant were also damaged, the report states.
The incident began at approximately 4:02 a.m. July 18 when Demorest Police Officer Edward Bush observed a red car traveling at a high rate of speed near Central Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue.
Bush reported clocking the vehicle at 44 mph in a 25-mph zone. When he activated his emergency lights and attempted to turn around, the driver allegedly accelerated and reached speeds exceeding 90 mph while traveling south on Central Avenue toward Cornelia.
According to the report, the vehicle crossed into a no-passing zone near Eastside Drive before the driver lost control while attempting to turn at the intersection of Ga. 105 and U.S. 441/Ga. 385 in Cornelia.
The car left the roadway and crashed into the Waffle House.
The vehicle was totaled, with damage to its front and sides and its airbags deployed. The report estimated the vehicle’s value at $5,000.
Cornelia police officers responded to the crash, along with Habersham County Sheriff’s Office deputies. Georgia State Patrol investigated the collision.
Police said the driver and two passengers—all juveniles—left the vehicle and fled following the crash. Two of them were apprehended shortly afterward, while a third juvenile remained at large when the report was completed.
Three Waffle House employees provided statements to investigators. One employee reported seeing a white male wearing light-colored clothing climb from one of the vehicle’s doors. Another employee described two white males with blonde hair exiting the car. A third employee reported seeing a Black male with a green sweatshirt run toward the nearby Mexican restaurant.
Waffle House management and the City of Cornelia provided surveillance footage to investigators. According to police, the footage showed one of the juveniles leaving the area after the crash.
Investigators determined that the red Hyundai Elantra had been reported stolen from a residence in Baldwin. The vehicle’s owner responded to the scene and told police she did not know the juveniles and had not given them permission to use the car.
The report states that one juvenile admitted driving the vehicle. Both apprehended juveniles declined to identify the third person involved.
The two juveniles taken into custody were transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Habersham for examination and were medically cleared. One was later taken to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Gainesville. The other was released to his father.
The driver was charged with speeding, fleeing or attempting to elude police, driving without a valid license, reckless driving, passing in a no-passing zone, failure to maintain lane, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving too fast for conditions, second-degree criminal damage to property, theft by receiving stolen property and obstructing law enforcement officers.
The charges are accusations, and the juvenile identified by police as the driver is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
