Wednesday, July 9, 2003
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Wednesday, July 9, 2003 |
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PTC, Tyrone chase wrong-way driver By JOHN MUNFORD
A Tyrone man led Peachtree City police on a chase that reached over 70 mph as he headed the wrong way on Ga. Highway 74 north early Thursday morning. The chase ended on Tyrone Road in Tyrone when the driver crashed his vehicle after reaching a curve in the road, said Maj. Mike DuPree of the Peachtree City Police Department. An officer spotted Aaron Bloss Jones, 22, as his vehicle went north in the southbound lanes of Hwy. 74 when it left the Marketplace retail center just after midnight, police said. The officer, who was on a traffic stop at the time, took to the northbound lanes as he sped up beside Jones's vehicle with his blue lights and siren activated, DuPree said. The officer also used his patrol car's spotlight to try and get Jones's attention that he was on the wrong side of the road, DuPree said. Jones switched lanes several times as he proceeded northward, avoiding oncoming vehicles that were headed in the proper direction, DuPree said. "There were some near misses," DuPree said. "We were very fortunate that they were able to get out of the way." Tyrone police were alerted as the pursuit headed north on Hwy. 74, and they tried to direct him into the northbound lanes to no avail, DuPree added. Jones finally exited the southbound lanes of Hwy. 74 when he turned right onto Tyrone Road, DuPree said. Speeds again reached the 70 to 75 mph range before the crash occurred in the Tyrone city limits, DuPree added. Jones has been charged with DUI, reckless driving, attempting to flee and elude a police officer, driving on the wrong side of the road, failure to maintain lane and a seat belt violation. Jones told an officer after the incident that he was unaware that he was driving on the wrong way on the road, DuPree said. After the crash he was checked out by Fayette County paramedics before he was taken to the Fayette County Jail, DuPree added. Peachtree City's pursuit policy allows for pursuits in situations like this because "he was considered an imminent threat to the public," said DuPree, noting that a head-on collision could have easily occurred. Last July, after a police chase initiated in Luthersville went through Peachtree City and killed local resident Chuck Vicha, Police Chief James Murray called on then-Gov. Roy Barnes to issue statewide restrictions on when police officers can pursue a suspect. Barnes declined, and Murray has received criticism from other law enforcement officials for his stance. State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) later held a public hearing on the issue during which it was discovered that police officers and sheriff's deputies don't receive specialized training to end police chases; such training is given to troopers of the Georgia State Patrol. The legislature passed a bill this year requiring all law enforcement agencies to implement a pursuit policy or risk losing their state funding. When that bill was signed, Murray said being selective about when to chase a criminal is a matter of protecting the public, which is the ultimate goal of police. Another bill that would have made fleeing a police officer a felony did not make it out of committee but has a good chance of passing next year, Seabaugh has said.
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