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Fayetteville drug bust leads to chase, 5-car crashFri, 10/06/2006 - 11:54am
By: John Munford
Two suspects trying to avoid arrest after an undercover drug buy led sheriff’s deputies on a brief chase Thursday afternoon that ended in a five-car crash near the Fayette Pavilion, police said. The chase began when the suspect jumped a curb at the Taco Bell, initially heading north on Ga. Highway 85 in the southbound lanes, said Lt. Col. Wayne Hannah of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect’s car moved into the northbound lanes of Hwy. 85 at the next intersection: the entrance to Lowe’s, Hannah noted. According to a report filed by the department, the 1995 Toyota Camry driven by suspect Antione J. Teamer, 27, of Doraville, ran a red light at the intersection with Pine Trail Road and struck a minivan that was going west through the intersection from Pine Trail Road, Hannah said. An undercover drug agent, driving an unmarked truck, swerved to avoid that crash and ran into a 2003 VW Passat while a second sheriff’s unit ran into Teamer’s Camry on the passenger side, preventing the passenger from fleeing while Teamer tried to get away on foot, Hannah said. Teamer was apprehended moments later behind the Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant, Hannah said. The passenger, identified as Michael Todwell, was also arrested, Hannah noted. Capt. Mike Pruitt said an undercover officer was purchasing two ounces of crack cocaine with a value of about $2,100 when the deal went down. The amount of crack was large enough to file trafficking charges in addition to charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Other traffic charges relating to the chase will also be filed, Pruitt said. According to Hannah, an on-duty Fayetteville police officer had pulled over his patrol vehicle on Hwy. 85 in an attempt to deploy “stop sticks” to deflate the suspects tires, but he couldn’t get them out in time. The crash occured just before the sheriff's helicopter could get into position to resume the pursuit so the ground units could back off, Hannah noted. No life-threatening injuries were reported, and Hannah said he was told that all injured persons in the crash were released from the hospital. The undercover buy was conducted by the Drug Task Force unit of the sheriff’s office, and agents initially had chosen another location to make the buy at, Hannah said. But the dealer switched locations afterward, asking that the deal take place at Taco Bell, Hannah noted. Typically when the task force executes a “takedown” on drug suspects, they insure that each entrance and exit to the area is blocked off to seal the suspect in. In this case the suspect avoided that safeguard by unexpectedly jumping the curb to get away. login to post comments
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