The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office reported the following incidents:
SUSPECTED MAN: On August 24, Deputy Sheriff Johnny Richards was sent to a warehouse on Atlanta Highway in Bogart because of two suspicious individuals. A 50-year-old Bogart man said they had a fight, but the other man left. The deputy sheriff found the 48-year-old Bogart man, who seemed surprised when he saw the officer. He had a bottle of liquor with him, a long flexible lighter and two flexible ties. The man said he was waiting for his wife, but when the officer decided to pet him, he ran away. After about 70 yards, the deputy threatened to “taze” the man, so he stopped. The man was charged with obstruction.
SHOP LIFT FLIGHT: On Aug. 30, Deputy Baer Schiffer was sent to Walmart, where a man donned a red UGA shirt and ripped off the price tag. The man was confronted before he could leave, but he fled in Kohl’s direction. The deputy went to Kohl’s, where an employee pinpointed the suspect’s location. The deputy took the 76-year-old bishop into custody, and as they left, the man made a comment about making a mistake. The suspect had a firearm in his car, which was taken away by the officer.
WATKINSVILLE CHASE: On August 25, a lookout was posted for a Honda Accord believed to be involved in another incident. Three days later, Cpl. Lex Ogan received a report that the car was on Simonton Bridge Road. Officer B. Argueta spotted the car and followed it to a location on North Main Street in Watkinsville, where it stopped. The car then drove to Experiment Station Road. As the car began to accelerate, Argueta activated its siren and lights. The Honda fled and nearly caused a collision, returning to Simonton Bridge Road where it nearly hit a second car. The Honda was traveling at 100 km/h in a 40 km/h zone and the deputy sheriff decided to perform a PIT maneuver. However, the driver slammed on the brakes, causing the patrol unit to hit the car and push it off the road into a ditch. The 30-year-old man from Athens was arrested. He told the officer that he had fled because he did not know why he was being stopped. He was charged with numerous traffic violations.
DRUGS FOUND: On August 29, Deputy Sheriff Dustin Mines was patrolling Highway 316 around 3 p.m. when he stumbled upon a Chrysler 300 with a broken brake light. A check showed that the car had a suspended license plate and was not insured. After a traffic stop, the deputy determined that the 32-year-old Monroe woman who drove the car and the 41-year-old Winder man, who owned the car, were both on probation. A tobacco dip can containing the residue of methamphetamine was found in the car and the man admitted ownership. A pill of Alprazolam was also found.
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DRUGS SEIZED: On August 29, Deputy Sheriff B. Argueta was patrolling South Burson Avenue in Bogart when he came across a parked car with two people in it. The Bogart man and the bishop woman, both 21, were holding sandwiches. The officer noticed that the woman was shaking. She identified herself as a woman named Brittany, but the officer couldn’t find anyone by that name in his computer. A drinking straw was seen in the car and upon examination revealed a box of some methamphetamine, which the woman said was mixed with some “bad stuff.” The woman, who objected to her arrest, also carried a piece of aluminum foil that she claimed contained fentanyl. On the way to jail, she admitted to lying about her name because of a warrant for her arrest in Barrow County.
STORE LIFT CAUGHT: On Aug. 28, Deputy Sheriff Johnny Richards was sent to Home Depot where a man was seen stuffing door hinges and accessories along with a box of screws down his pants. The man was a known shoplifter at the store. The 18-year-old suspect was taken to prison.
HIT AND RUN: On August 28 Cpl. Lex Ogan was sent to a wreck on U.S. Highway 441 at High Shoals Road, Bishop, where a white Chevrolet Silverado drove onto the highway from High Shoals and was hit by a Ford F-150. When the deputy arrived, he saw the badly damaged Ford with a crumpled hood, broken front end and deployed airbags. The driver had cuts and airbag burns on his body. He explained that he was unable to stop when the Chevy pulled up in front of him, a story corroborated by a bus driver who said the Chevy nearly hit his bus after the two pickups collided. The Chevy fled, and officers found it abandoned about three miles away. The officer called the owner of the Chevy and explained that her boyfriend had the pickup and that he had called saying he was in a wreck and the police were looking for him. The 34-year-old man from Eatonton did not have a driver’s license, she said. The woman and deputies went to a location near the damaged Chevy, and she began calling his name. He soon emerged from the forest and was taken to prison.
CAR ROLLS: On Aug. 25, Deputy Sheriff Joshua Warren was sent to a wreck on Highway 316 near the Oconee Connector where a vehicle flipped in the median and the driver was lying on the ground nearby. An ambulance was called to take the 39-year-old bishop man to a hospital. An amount of crack cocaine was found in the car during an investigation.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Oconee Blotter: High speed chase ends with car crashing into ditch
