Another day: another high-speed pursuit in in a stolen vehicle which area law enforcement was called to respond.
Toombs County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jordan Kight reports that on Saturday, February 17, a Toombs County Deputy attempted to make a traffic stop of the truck near the intersection of Hwy 1 north and Five Points Road. The driver of the truck, identified as Devanta Williams of Sandersville, began to accelerate the vehicle to elude the officer. The Deputy stayed behind the truck as it entered Emanuel County and through the city of Oak Park, ending on Ohoopee Bend Road in Treutlen County, approximately 18 miles from where the chase began. It was at that point that Williams lost control of the truck, left the highway, and into a large tree stump, rendering the vehicle inoperable.
Williams fled on foot with the deputy running behind him. Williams was given multiple commands to stop fleeing but ignored them. The Deputy was forced to bring Williams into compliance with his commands by deploying his taser.
As the deputy attempted to restrain Williams, Williams began to physically resist. For the safety of the Deputy and Wiliams, a second taser deployment was applied. After the taser cycle, Wiliams again fought back, and was able to break free. He began running, causing the deputy to deploy his taser a third time, stopping the suspect. Again, he resisted and tried to escape. The confrontation continued until another Toombs County deputy arrived to assist.
EMS arrived but the suspect refused to go to the hospital. As EMS treated Williams at the scene, deputies discovered a semi-automatic loaded pistol in the truck. It was later determined that the gun had been stolen from a residence in Jefferson County. The owner of the truck was determined to be Williams' mother, who stated that her son had stolen her vehicle from her residence in Washington County.
Devanta Williams was transported to the Toombs County Detention Center and charged with reckless driving, 3 counts of failure to stop at a stop sign, 3 counts of failure to maintain lane, speeding, felony fleeing and attempting to elude, felony obstruction, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and felony theft by receiving stolen property. He also had outstanding warrants in Laurens and Washington counties where he will eventually be transferred to face those warrants.
