A 20-year-old motorcycle rider was arrested Monday after Marietta police said he made a game of taunting officers and driving recklessly through the city.
Investigators believe Mark Gilliam, who is from Lithonia, caused only one traffic accident, but they said they were worried his riding habits would result in injury to other motorists. He was arrested on 20 traffic charges, including two felony counts of fleeing police.
Marietta police Chief Dan Flynn said reckless driving has become a serious problem in metro Atlanta, citing a rise in street racing and motorcyclists “who flaunt the law and defy police.”
“Obviously they endanger their own lives, but they also endanger the lives of the driving public that is innocently going about their daily activities," he said in a statement. “When anyone openly defies law enforcement, they become a cancer to overall public safety.”
Police began looking to identify a suspect in October after a rider was seen “running red lights, popping wheelies in heavy traffic, cutting vehicles off and running from law enforcement," police spokesman Officer Chuck McPhilamy said. They used social media to seek the public’s help, he said, and received a steady flow of tips and leads.
In an Oct. 21 Facebook post, police said the rider “has made a game out of finding and then taunting local police in the city and county.” Officers said they saw the rider “intentionally run red lights" and ride at excessive speeds “far above the limits.”
“He is clearly and intentionally seeking attention and the list of traffic violations we have filmed has grown incredibly long,” police said in the post. “As your local police department we choose to not endanger our citizens or officers by engaging in his ‘game.’”
Police pleaded with the rider to turn himself in and asked the public to “have the courage” to turn him over. Initially, the tips led investigators to the intersection of Delk Road and Cobb Parkway.
“The suspect rider reappeared multiple times immediately after our request for tips, committing numerous additional moving violations,” McPhilamy said. “As we closed in on his location he suddenly stopped riding (and) appearing.”
The rider, later identified as Gilliam, eventually sold his motorcycle, according to police. They tracked him to a condo in the Ashborough Village complex off Ashborough Road, where he was arrested Monday afternoon with the help of police dogs and Cobb County officers.
When police announced their presence, Gilliam allegedly ran out the back door of his condo and tried to scale a tall privacy fence, McPhilamy said. A waiting police dog sent him back over the fence, where he was apprehended.
No one was injured during his arrest, according to police.
In addition to the two felony charges, Gilliam is facing 18 misdemeanor charges ranging from aggressive driving to failing to use a turn signal. He is being held in the Cobb County jail without bond.
According to McPhilamy, Gilliam had outstanding warrants from other jurisdictions and was determined to be a flight risk.
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