Crime & Safety
Driver of Oldsmobile Leads Oconee Deputy on Chase into Morgan County
As of Thursday, an arrest had not been made in the Jan. 4 incident.
The driver of a white, 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass who led an Oconee County Sheriff's deputy on a chase into Morgan County last Friday afternoon has so far eluded capture.
According to an incident report, the deputy grew suspicious as the driver "took exceptional notice of [his] presence" while the deputy waited to turn onto Price Mill Road around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 4.
The deputy checked the vehicle's tag and found that it had no valid insurance, so he initiated a traffic stop in the parking lot of the Golden Pantry in Bishop on US 441.
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"It should be noted that the driver was immensely watching me through the side view mirror as I exited my vehicle and began to approach his vehicle," the deputy wrote. "As I got midways between my patrol unit and the violator's vehicle, the driver placed his vehicle in drive and aggressively accelerated out of the parking lot."
The deputy hopped back into the patrol car and gave chase as the Cutlass turned onto Union Church Road to Ga. 186 to US 441 and back to Price Mill Road, running stop signs along the way. The vehicle then entered Morgan County and ran another stop sign. At that time, the report notes, a supervisor called off the chase.
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Deputies from Oconee and Morgan counties next visited the nearby residence where the car was registered, but the car was not there and it appeared that no one was home. Shortly after and close by, one of the deputies found the car, abandoned.
A large amount of possibly stolen clothing was located in the trunk, and the car was towed, according to the report.
Deputies spoke with residents in the area where the car was found and learned the name of a possible suspect. They then returned to the home where the car is registered and family members of the suspect confirmed the man drives the vehicle, but attempts to locate the suspect that night were unsuccessful.
As of Thursday, no arrest had been made and no warrants had been issued, OCSO Chief Deputy Lee Weems said.
"We know who the driver was, but he has family members covering for him," he wrote in an email to Patch.
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