Gwinnett Daily Post

SNELLVILLE -- The suspected drunk driver who fled from Snellville police and crashed Wednesday night died in the hospital Thursday morning.

The man, who was not identified by police at the scene, is Thomas Alvis Jr., a 61-year-old Loganville man, Snellville police Chief Roy Whitehead said.

Snellville police responded to a call reporting a potential drunk driver just after 8 p.m. Wednesday and were able to stop the blue Chevrolet pickup truck at the intersection of Ga. Highway 124 and U.S. Highway 78. Alvis fled.

"Officers approached the car and when they opened the car door to get him out, they could tell that he was drunk," Whitehead said. "That's when he sped off."

Squad cars pursued the suspect until he reached speeds of "somewhere around 70" mph less than a mile down the road at Henry Clower Boulevard. "Within a minute" of the police officers ending their chase, Whitehead said, Alvis veered from the road and crashed into a guardrail.

He was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital from the scene and was in critical condition Wednesday night before dying Thursday.