Friday, March 5, 2004
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Friday, March 5, 2004 |
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Police used stop sticks to disable fleeing truck By JOHN MUNFORD A Newnan man who refused to stop for a Peachtree City police officer Wednesday afternoon was caught when officers used “stop sticks” to disable his truck, police said. Officers estimated Darrell M. Colton, 28, fled at 50 miles per hour through the school zone in front of Booth Middle School minutes before school let out for the day, said Police Chief James Murray. At the intersection of Peachtree Parkway and McIntosh Trail, an officer used the stop sticks to deflate the right side tires of the vehicle, Murray said. The vehicle came to a quick stop because it was loaded down in the back with concrete, Murray said. The driver later told officers he wasn’t going to stop because he had a suspended driver’s license. The chief said the situation was “perfect” for the use of the stop sticks. Officers had blocked traffic on Peachtree Parkway “so we only had him in front of us,” and the sticks were used in a good area of the road, he added. “It was obvious he wasn’t going to stop,” Murray said, complimenting the officers and supervisors who made the situation end quickly. “We had a real controlled environment to use them (the stop sticks). They’re made to stop things before they get started.” All of the city’s patrol cars have stop sticks for such occasions, Murray noted. “We wanted to stop him before he got to the Braelinn shopping center and all the traffic they have there,” Murray said. Colton was charged with driving with a suspended license, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving in a school zone, driving with defective equipment, improper lane change, failure to obey a person directing traffic and speeding. Colton has a history of “major” felonies on his rap sheet, Murray said. Two passengers in the car, Eugene Carter, 52, of Newnan and Michael Anthony Reese, 43, of Newnan, were arrested for possession of an open container of alcohol. The pursuit began when an officer spotted Colton’s vehicle on Flat Creek Road and noticed it appeared to have no working brake lights, Murray said. The officer had to turn around and catch the truck, which was going in the other direction and turned onto Ga. Highway 54, driving an estimated 70 mph, the chief said. After pulling behind the vehicle, Colton waved his left arm out the window indicating he was going to pull off the roadway, but instead he cut off another vehicle and proceeded south through the Booth school zone before the truck was halted by the stop sticks, Murray said.
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