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Inmates captured in North Georgia after chase on I-75

Adam Q. Lethco, left, and Matthew R. Porter (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)
Adam Q. Lethco, left, and Matthew R. Porter (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)
By Steve Burns
Dec 17, 2016

Two inmates who escaped from a Tennessee jail were captured in north Georgia on Friday night after a chase on I-75, Channel 2 Action News reported.

Matthew Robert Porter, 27, and Adam Quinn Lethco, 24, led Tennessee authorities on a chase in a stolen flatbed 18-wheeler, the station reported.

The Georgia State Patrol took over the pursuit when it crossed the state line, Channel 2 reported. Troopers used stop sticks to blow out the tires and end the chase.

Southbound lanes on I-75 were shut down in Whitfield County during the investigation.

A Jefferson County, Tenn., deputy was treating Lethco for a hand injury Friday morning and when officers left, four inmates attacked them and took keys to the deputies' vehicle, officials said. Police say there was a gun in the vehicle.

Two of the prisoners were recaptured shortly after.

Porter and Lethco also are suspects in an attempted armed robbery Friday in Sevierville, Tenn., Channel 2 reported.

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