Georgia K-9 officer sniffs out wanted fugitive hiding under tractor-trailer

A suspect is in custody after Marietta police say he sped wildly through the city in a stolen truck.

Officials say they were alerted to a stolen pickup truck driving into Marietta around 10:30 Tuesday morning.

Officers tried to stop the car at a Wendy's parking lot, but the driver of the stop fled, causing a minor accident before vanishing.

Troopers were searching the area when a business owner off West Oak Parkway called 911 to report a person had thrown clothing and what turned out to be a loaded handgun into some nearby bushes. Additional calls reported a suspicious man running into businesses around the area.

Sign up for FOX 5 email alerts

 K-9 Officer Apex helped officers catch a suspect who fled from a traffic stop.

The Marietta Police Department deployed K-9 Officer Apex, who found the suspect just before 11 a.m. wedged under a parked tractor-trailer on the road.

The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Warner Robins resident Donald Decarle, was charged with felony theft by receiving stolen property, misdemeanor driving, fleeing, or attempting to elude, driving hit and run, possession of a firearm in the commission of a theft, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The truck was later found outside the Marietta city limits when a resident notified police that their Ring doorbell camera caught it on video driving through their yard. Cobb County police found it in the backyard of a home on Brooke Avenue.

Download the FOX 5 Atlanta app for breaking news and weather alerts.