JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Johns Creek police believe a man’s attempt to avoid a ticket for an expired tag and no car insurance after a wreck led him to a violent crime spree.

Witnesses told police a man slammed into the back of several cars stopped at the intersection of Old Alabama and Haynes Bridge Roads Friday afternoon.

“Were just lined up in traffic, we were stalled,” a witness told Johns Creek Police in bodycam footage obtained by Channel 2′s Mike Petchenik. “The light was green, but we were all stopped. The guy hit them, and then there was a domino effect.”

Police say David Rivas, 28, ran across Old Alabama Road and tried to get into the car of a woman stopped near Newtown Park.

“I saw him coming towards me, and I locked my door, and he started shaking the door and trying to get it open,” the woman told police. “I was afraid he was going to pull anything. He didn’t pull anything out, and I said let me get my dog down, and he said, ‘OK, OK.’”

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Witnesses said Rivas shattered that woman’s window before running back across the street and trying to get into the cars of two others involved in the initial wreck.

“That guy jumped out. He ran over there and tried to get that car and then he ran into the park and then the next thing I knew he was in my car and was gonna take off,” the owner of that car told officers.

That’s when Johns Creek firefighters working at a nearby firehouse stepped in to help.

“Luckily, the firemen, there were seven of them,” said one witness. “Otherwise, they would have stolen her car.”

The firefighters pounced on Rivas, holding him down until officers could arrive to arrest him.

Police said three of them suffered minor injuries during the scuffle.

“We got him to the ground, and he found Jesus,” one firefighter told police in the bodycam footage. “He said that several times.”

Rivas is now in the Fulton County jail facing several charges:

• Criminal Attempt Robbery by Force
• Criminal Attempt Theft by Taking Motor Vehicle
• Fleeing the Scene of an Accident
• Following Too Closely
• Expired Registration
• No Insurance
• Obstruction of a Firefighter x 3

In a statement, Johns Creek Police Captain Todd Hood told Petchenik that Rivas “created a very dangerous situation and brought on several more serious charges because of his bad decision.”

Cox Media Group