From STAFF REPORTS

CORDELE — Crisp County Sheriff’s Department officers recently took part in a high speed two-county chase initiated on Nov. 3 near the Pilot Travel Center by Cordele Police Department Cpl. Marcus Sales.

The police officer said he saw white F-150 and F-250 Ford pickup trucks traveling east on 16th Avenue shortly after 10:30 p.m. and witnessed them crossing the white line. At that point he attempted to stop both drivers.

The F-150 came to a stop but the F-250 sped up before turning into the Ramada Inn parking lot where it eventually made a U-turn, headed west and then pulled into the Shell station parking lot where Deputy Capt. Kyle Smith Jr. tried to halt its direction of travel.

The driver of the truck then cut back on to 16th Avenue, spinning tires and making a 360-degree circle in the middle of the roadway before briefly coming to a stop during which the driver exited and took off running. Left in gear and with the doors locked, the truck then struck the driver’s side door of the sheriff’s department unit before eventually winding up against a fire hydrant.

With Sales in pursuit, the subject ran behind Pilot Travel Center and entered the F-150 Cpl. Sales had initially stopped. It then sped away.

At that point that Deputy Al Thompson joined in the pursuit that first traveled south on Ga 90 then turned west on 24th Avenue where it reached speeds of 70 mph and ignored all traffic signals encountered before reaching U.S. 280 West.

Upon reaching that highway, the driver increased the vehicle’s speed to over 100 mph and continued into Sumter County where a deputy there deployed stop sticks that flattened both front tires.

Still, the truck continued into Leslie where after turning onto a back street two passengers in the vehicle jumped out and ran as the vehicle was still moving. The driver, however, then made a south turn before finally coming to a stop when the vehicle crashed into a building.

Here again, the driver took off running and managed to elude lawmen until officers received a tip about possible suspects. The mother of one of the suspects gave lawmen an address where they might be hiding and took the trio into custody.

The three — two of whom are juveniles — were returned to Crisp County for questioning. No charges have as yet been filed.

Meanwhile, the F-250 that hit the sheriff’s unit was later learned to have been stolen from Jerry’s Paint and Body where it had been left for repairs. It was also discovered the F-150 that eluded lawmen for so long belonged to Sumter Regional Hospital. It, too, had been stolen. Both vehicle have been returned to their owners.

In other activity, deputies:

— Investigated six incidents involving persons already in their custody.