Vehicle Pursuit in Lowndes County, GA

[Veronica]

This is what I did this weekend. (meaning I was on the radio)

VALDOSTA — A multi-county high-speed chase ended with an arrest on Interstate 75, causing an accident that left Valdosta’s Five Points area without power for more than 12 hours.
The pursuit began in Coffee County late Saturday night and continued into Echols County’s Statenville, where the Echols Sheriff’s Department requested assistance from the Georgia State Patrol, said Cpl. Jeff Culpepper of the GSP. It was suspected that the vehicle in question was transporting drugs, he said.
At about 11:12 p.m., the Valdosta Police Department was notified that a golden-colored BMW was being chased by GSP troopers and Lowndes County deputies, according to Capt. Brian Childress of the Valdosta Police Department. Reaching speeds in excess of 130 miles, the car headed toward Valdosta on U.S. 94, entered Valdosta on Inner Perimeter Road and traveled on Madison Highway, Patterson Street and North Ashley Street. Police units blocked intersections along the route for safety but were not involved in the pursuit at any point.
The BMW, driven by Tad Whitworth, about 40 years of age, struck a Lowndes County deputy’s car in the 2900 block of North Ashley Street, causing the deputy to lose control and strike three electrical poles, both Culpepper and Childress said. The accident left the Five Points area without power and caused minor injuries to the deputy, they said. While Valdosta police performed traffic control, Whitworth continued north on North Valdosta Road and entered Interstate 75 followed by troopers, they said.
A trooper performed a Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT maneuver) at mile 25. Troopers are specially trained to perform these maneuvers at predetermined, precise points in order to stop vehicles smoothly, causing them to lose traction. It is not a ramming technique, Culpepper explained. The PIT maneuver stopped the BMW, causing no injuries to either driver.
A substance suspected to be crystal methamphetamine was recovered from the scene and all aspects of the incident are still under investigation by the Georgia State Patrol, said Culpepper. Whitworth was arrested and transported to the Lowndes County Jail, where he faces both misdemeanor and felony charges from multiple law enforcement entities, according to Culpepper, who said the pending charges will include aggravated assault on an officer, drug charges and a host of traffic violations.
Georgia Power worked throughout the night and Sunday morning on the outage at Five Points and power was restored at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Childress said.
Valdosta police officers performed some traffic control during the night and continued to monitor the situation Sunday morning.

Valdosta Daily Times - Chase causes blackout; ends with arrest

This veh's top speed thru our county was 138 mph. He was shooting up (meth) while he was driving. Our deputy (that was hit) went to the hospital w/ minor injuries, but his car is totaled. I actually cried. When the deputy was hit, he ran into three power poles, as one of the power poles was falling it took out one of the gsp light bars off the top of his veh. The GSP unit was then in the lead chasing the guy w/ NO LIGHTS!!! It was rediculous. The offender got onto the interstate going NB in the SB lane. One of our deputies had the shot gun ready to shoot his tires out before he left our county, but gsp pitted him before they could shoot out the tires. Thank god noone was seriously hurt. They guy was on meth so bad he was freaking out and shaking. We got to watch the tape last night. It was awesome!!

ALSO, that same night, we had a driveby, robberies X2, and 2 other chases. It was crazy!!

Last night was just as bad. We have two more robberies.

 

[hhayes]

they had that whole area of road closed for hours! i'm glad the officer is okay though and i'm glad they got the guy!

 

[TheOriginalJames]

Damn... my sister in laws brother was in Jail in Southern Indiana for manufacturing meth, they just bailed his ass out two weeks ago.

Meth fucks ya up.

Glad the officer is going to be ok, and I hope that asshat they were chasing gets what's coming to him.

 

[Mrs Behavin]

Im so glad that officer is going to be okay. Props to him for a job well done though and everyone else who had a part in it.
Not trying to go off subject here, but the other night when we left the restaurant Fri night, we were on a back road and there was this green tahoe parked horizontally on the road. We honked for the guy to move, no success. So my husband gets out and walks over to the vehicle to make sure there wasnt something wrong and the guys eyes were dilated huge. And the guy said he couldnt move his car b/c he threw his keys out the door onto the ground. Come to find out, the guy said that he was "trippin" on mushrooms. He was pretty messed up.

 

[Veronica]

people are so freaking stupid nowadays. I guess they dont realize that, that shit will screw them up forever!

 

[GuesSAngel]

there should be a law for stupid people...put them all in a boat and send them to the middle of the ocean. and kick em off.

 

[elluko]

Veronica from Valdosta.
Are you a ventriloquist?

 

[Veronica]

nope. lol

 

[The_Rooks_Revenge]

sweet story but im from Oakland Cali where the chases are everyday and the cops getting shot are normal.

 

[Veronica]

I bet it is normal there.