Fleeing burglary suspects crash into Brainerd Hills Veterinary Hospital

A car crashed into the side of Brainerd Hills Veterinary Hospital on East Brainerd Road today.
A car crashed into the side of Brainerd Hills Veterinary Hospital on East Brainerd Road today.

The staff at Brainerd Hills Veterinary Hospital breathed a few words of thanks Friday after a shower of fist-sized rocks blasted like shrapnel through the wall of Dr. Pamela Prince's office.

A car occupied by three burglary suspects had crashed into a retaining wall, peppering the building with debris.

The driver and his passengers -- allegedly on the run from police -- lost control of the vehicle and crunched into the side of the building, leaving pieces of the light-colored automobile strewn across the grass and embedded in the wall of the building.

Law enforcement officials arrived right behind the men and apprehended one suspect but were still searching for two others shortly after the crash, according to Hamilton County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Georgia D. Short.

Employees at Brainerd Hills Veterinary Hospital said Prince wasn't in the office at the time, thanks to the timing of the crash on the day after Christmas. The doctors were planning to go home early Friday, working a light day just returning boarded pets to their owners.

"All the animals are OK," said Dr. John Haddock, one of the veterinarians at the hospital.

Haddock said the hospital has insurance, and he said workers are already scheduled to patch up the building to keep out the elements.

"The office got hit in a storage area," Haddock said a couple of hours after the cleanup started. "The building was fine as far as where the animals are. And we're 100 percent fully operational."

Haddock said the impact of the crash "shook the whole building" and an employee looked out to see two of the men getting out of the car as officers arrived.

"The police were right on their rump in pursuit of them," Haddock said, so the employee shut the door and let the officers handle the situation outside while the staff inspected damage inside.

"Rocks just went flying through the windows. The whole side of the building has dirt 30 feet up it," Haddock said. "I'm glad Dr. Prince wasn't in her office. Her office was just showered in glass and the rocks."

Short said in a release that the incident is believed to stem from a call of a burglary in progress at 9522 Fuller Road outside Chattanooga city limits.

The burglary suspects were described as three men who allegedly took several items from the Fuller Road home and left in a white sedan with tinted windows, officials said. Deputies spotted the suspect vehicle near East Brainerd and Gunbarrel roads.

"Deputies attempted to stop [the] vehicle which fled and wrecked into a house at East Brainerd Road/Roselawn," Short states.

The captured suspect was injured and taken by police to the hospital for treatment of what were described as minor injuries.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.

Contact staff writer Ellis Smith at esmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6315.

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