Entering autos, felony eluding officers involved
Putnam County authorities are actively seeking the person or persons who recently stole items from inside vehicles in the Phoenix Crossing subdivision and later led authorities on a high-speed chase.
The perpetrator was driving a gray Dodge Challenger, authorities said, but the vehicle’s owner said he didn’t know who had his car that night.
According to records from Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, several vehicles were entered during the early morning hours of Monday, July 24. The vehicles were not damaged and had been left unlocked, Sills said.
Security cameras on several houses revealed one or two individuals dressed in hoodies walking around the neighborhood and leaving in the Challenger shortly before the first deputy arrived on the scene.
The incidents were repeated at 4 a.m. Saturday, July 29. When Putnam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Charles Riley arrived, he saw a gray Dodge Challenger parked on the street in front of the house where the incident reportedly happened. Riley felt the hood of the Challenger and it was warm, Sills said.
Familiar with the Monday-night incidents, Riley asked the resident if they recognized the car, and was told no. Further investigation reportedly revealed additional vehicles had been entered Saturday morning.
"Items reported stolen include laptops, money, and one 9mm handgun," Sills said.
Riley remained at one entrance of the subdivision and Deputy Hollie Collins was outside the other entrance, waiting for the Challenger to leave.
Seeing the Challenger driver turn onto Old Phoenix Road, Sgt. Riley turned on the blue lights of his patrol vehicle and a high-speed chase ensued, Sills said. Meanwhile, Deputy Collins set out a spike strip tire deflation device, which the Challenger driver ran over, but didn’t stop.
The chase continued from the 300 block of Old Phoenix Road to the Hwy. 44 intersection, where the Challenger hit a curb and stopped.
Both front tires and one rear tire reportedly were deflated “and it was clear that the vehicle had been running on the front rims and the airbags had been deployed,” noted Sills, who had joined the chase. The driver had gotten out and run away.
Cpl. Chris Donovan and K9 officer Nix tracked the driver’s scent from the intersection to The Crossroads at the Lake Oconee apartment complex, where Nix reportedly lost the scent in the parking lot.
Sills checked the registration of the Dodge and learned the owners, a man, and his mother, lived in the apartment complex in the building adjacent to the parking lot where K9 Nix had lost track of the driver.
The sheriff and Deputy Nick Fazio went to the Primrose Path address and talked to the car’s registrants.
“(He) told me the Challenger was his car and it was registered to him and his mother, (but) both claimed that they did not know the Challenger was gone nor did they know who could have been driving,” Sills wrote in his report. “But they did not go so far as to say that it was stolen, and (he) claimed he always left his keys in the car.”
Sills got a search warrant for the contents of the Challenger and the investigation continues. Anyone with information on the case should call Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at 706-485-8557.