Two men are in jail after a high-speed chase and search that lasted more than eight hours and ended under a residential trailer on May 16, authorities say.
“It was one of those good days,” said Putnam County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Col. Russell Blenk. “We had everybody there, other agencies helping us. It was hot, and everybody was tired, but nobody wanted to quit. That’s why we come to work. Going under a house where two people were with a gun and pulling them out, that’s a fun day.”
Putnam County Sheriff’s Office received a call a few minutes after 6 a.m. from Jasper County Sheriff’s Office informing them of the chase coming over the county line on Highway 16.
The offenders had reportedly carjacked a 2014 Mercedes Benz in Newton County and were fleeing from Newton and Jasper County Sheriff’s Offices and Georgia State Patrol.
According to PCSO Sgt. Justin Brock and Stop Stix were set out just east of the Gregory Bridge on Highway. 16, causing the Mercedes to crash.
“They bush-bonded and went into the river, and we started searching for them in the area between Monticello Highway and Glenwood Springs,” Blenk added. “It was right at shift change, so we had everybody there, and everybody got involved in the hunt. It got to where some of them had been working over 20 hours, but they didn’t want to go home. Teamwork makes the dream work.”
Putnam’s K9 Nix and handler, Deputy Chris Donovan, tracked the suspects for about four hours without success. At some point, the suspects crossed over the river to the other side, Blenk said, and they started getting phone calls of sightings from residents.
In addition to Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies, Blenk said law enforcement officers of Eatonton Police Department, Newton County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State Patrol, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, and DNR assisted them in the hunt and in keeping the roads closed and monitored.
Georgia State Patrol Trooper Rhodes came in with his K9 Duco to relieve Nix and Donovan. GSP also assisted with their helicopter to search from the air.
“When the helicopter had to go get refueled, we stopped for lunch, and Dairy Queen in Eatonton provided all of us with free hamburger lunches and cold drinks,” Blenk said “That was really nice of them, and we really enjoyed that.”
The big break came around 2 p.m. when a woman on Loblolly Drive called and said the two men were underneath her trailer.
When the law enforcement officers arrived, Sgt. Brock got her safely out of the house The two offenders refused to come out from under the house when repeatedly ordered to do so After considering all of their options, Col. Blenk said he and Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell decided to go underneath the trailer and get them, and Brock and Donovan volunteered to go with them.
“It was low crawling under the house, and we were covered in clay, but they did not resist when we got to them, so all of us came out, and no one was harmed,” Blenk said.
While under there, they also recovered the handgun used in the carjacking. Blenk said it had an extended magazine and had been reported lost in Cobb County.
Jareese Dashod Driskell, 19, of Covington, and Jason Tyrone Howell, 19, of Conyers, were both taken into custody They will be turned over to Newton County authorities first for the armed carjacking and fleeing, and then brought back to Putnam County to face charges that are yet to be determined, according to Blenk.
Both men have a criminal history of felony convictions that goes back several years, and there was also an active warrant for Driskell from Newton County.