LAKE PARK —
A motorcade of law-enforcement vehicles swarmed a silver Cadillac Thursday evening just south of 4H Club Road, after leading officers on a wild high-speed chase up and down Highway 41 South, crossing into Georgia from Florida.
One of the vehicle's two occupants was carted off by South Georgia Medical Center emergency management service, while the second person, according to witnesses, refused to exit the vehicle without a phone call home.
The chase ended after the fleeing driver noticed spike strips on the road and made a daring u-turn, said Sgt. Brian Gay of the Georgia State Patrol.
The turn sent the driver through a parking lot and over a median, before a GSP vehicle initiated a PIT (Pursuit Immobilization Technique) maneuver on the vehicle and a Hamilton County, Fla., sheriff's patrol vehicle trapped the vehicle from the front.
“He was driving southbound on the northside, saw those strips, pulled his car to the median, and then kept heading south,” said eye-witness Richard Kuter. “We counted 27 different law-enforcement vehicles and one ambulance behind him."
The chase began in North Florida when Hamilton County officers attempted to stop the silver vehicle because of its heavily tinted windows, according to Gay.
The suspects whizzed by Jeremy Carter twice, who admitted to driving a little over the speed limit himself, as he headed home from a contracting job in Florida. He estimated that the vehicle was driving about 90 miles per hour the first time it passed him, and at least 120 mph the second go-round.
“When he passed me, I knew something serious was going on,” said Carter. “His head was locked in place and his eyes were fixed forward.”
The chase moved to Interstate 75 north and Lafayette County sheriff's officers joined the chase, said Gay. Lowndes County sheriff's deputies prepared to intercept the vehicle around Exit 2, he said, but the suspects turned off on the exit and headed toward Dasher on Highway 41 going north.
GSP troopers joined the chase as the vehicle crossed the intersection of Inner Perimeter Road and Highway 41, said Gay. But after the suspects noticed the spike strips that troopers had been prepping, the driver made a dramatic u-turn and headed back down the highway.
Kuter said he and his wife were caught up in the drama, as a GSP trooper tried to lay down the spike strips and keep other citizens out
of the chase.
"[The trooper] was outside his vehicle, running around trying to stop us and lay those strips in the road,” said Kuter. “He risked his life for us. We could have lost our lives tonight.
“(The speeding vehicle) was driving southbound on the northbound side,” said Kuter. "He saw those strips, pulled his car to the median, and then kept heading south. He left part of his car in the median.”
Officials did not release the suspect's name as charges were still not finalized by press time Thursday night.
Local News
Related Photos
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Authorities from the Georgia State Patrol reconstruct the closing moments of Thursday evening’s dramatic chase on Highway 41 near Lake Park. Quinten Plummer
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Authorities from several South Georgia and North Florida law enforcement agencies hold a tight perimeter around a wrecked car after a high-speed chase on Highway 41 near Lake Park. Quinten Plummer
Discussion
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