Authorities late Monday afternoon released information about a deadly incident that occurred Sunday night west of Clarkesville.
According to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, at around 10 p.m. on March 3, Clarkesville police initiated a traffic stop on a truck driven by William Charles Lamberti, 48, of Demorest. Lamberti refused to stop and led police on a chase, the GBI says.
The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office and Demorest Police Department assisted in the pursuit. The pursuit traveled to Highway 115 near Habersham Mills Road, where a sheriff’s deputy performed a PIT maneuver on Lamberti’s truck, ending the chase.
A Clarkesville police officer was unable to stop his patrol vehicle in time and ran into the wrecked Toyota Tacoma pickup truck Lamberti was driving, the Georgia State Patrol says.
According to the GBI, after the pursuit ended, Lamberti shot himself inside the truck. Habersham EMS treated Lamberti at the scene and took him to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The GBI says there was a passenger in the vehicle with Lamberti. Authorities did not release the passenger’s name and did not say whether they were injured. The GBI also did not release details on what prompted the pursuit.
Troopers with Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa investigated the three-vehicle accident that resulted from the PIT maneuver.
According to Habersham County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Rob Moore, the agencies involved in the pursuit asked for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to process the scene.
Highway 115 at Habersham Mills Road was closed for over six hours as crews collected evidence. The road reopened after 5 a.m. Monday, March 4.
The GBI says Lamberti’s body will be taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Decatur for an autopsy.
