A man died after a police chase ended with a crash into Abundant Word of Grace Church of God in Christ on Napier Avenue in west Macon, according to the Georgia State Patrol and Bibb County Coroner’s Office.
The incident began Sunday morning when Bibb County Sheriff’s deputies pursued a white Infiniti Q70 luxury sedan near Napier Avenue and Fairmont Avenue. According to Lt. Edward Starling of the Georgia State Patrol public information office, deputies lost sight of the vehicle as it traveled east on Napier Avenue and ended their pursuit.
Shortly afterward, multiple 911 calls reported that a white Infiniti had crashed into the church at 3396 Napier Avenue. Authorities confirmed it was the same car involved in the earlier chase.
Coroner Leon Jones identified the driver as Larry Sellers Jr., 37. Jones said Sellers ran about 50 yards from the crash before collapsing and dying at the scene. The cause of death was not immediately clear, as there were no visible injuries on Sellers.
“(Investigators) had nothing to work with,” Jones said. “I didn’t see any trauma from the outside.”
Jones noted that an airbag deployed during the crash and suspected heart trauma may have played a role in Sellers’ death. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday to determine his injuries more precisely.
It did not appear that Sellers intentionally drove into the church, according to Jones.
“He lost control of that car,” Jones said. “I’m basing this on my experience of 67 years with (emergency medical services) and the coroner’s office, because I’ve seen it before.”
The investigation by state troopers is ongoing. The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment when contacted by The Telegraph.
A video posted on Facebook by Bru Williams, a member of Abundant Word of Grace Church, showed significant damage to both a brick wall and much of the church’s interior. Rubble filled one hallway and wooden walls near a chapel were torn down by the impact.
On Facebook Sunday morning, church leaders asked for guidance regarding next steps following the incident and expressed their intent to continue forward despite challenges.
“So when you see Abundant Word of Grace moving forward… it is because God’s love compels us to be relentless in spreading the Gospel, even through pain, even through tragedy,” Pastor Hilliard Calvin Arline IV said in a video posted Monday evening.
Arline also described Sellers as “a father (and) a friend.”
