Two felons with suspected gang ties are back behind bars after leading deputies on a chase on I-75 in Monroe County on Thursday evening, authorities said.
The chase began about 10:15 p.m. when Monroe deputies pulled over a Chevrolet Tahoe in the southbound lanes after noticing the driver had outstanding arrest warrants, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. After the SUV stopped at a weigh station, deputies ordered the man out of the vehicle.
Instead of complying, the driver sped away from the traffic stop with police in pursuit. Deputies performed a PIT maneuver at mile marker 187, causing the SUV to lose control and crash into a power pole, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Anna Lewis said.
The two men inside, identified as 23-year-old Joshua Gannon Deanda and 29-year-old Michael Hester, got out and ran from the wrecked vehicle, authorities said.
Inside the Chevy, deputies discovered two stolen guns and Deanda’s driver’s license. They also found a bag containing a pound of methamphetamine that had been tossed out the window at the weigh station, authorities said.
Credit: Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Monroe County Sheriff's Office
The Georgia State Patrol’s aviation unit was called in to assist in the search, and Deanda was found hiding in the woods shortly before midnight, Lewis said.
Hester wasn’t located until 9:15 a.m. Friday after deputies received tips that he was buying clothes in a Walmart in the city of Forsyth. He was taken into custody outside the store.
Both Hester and Deanda were booked into the Monroe County Jail on charges of meth trafficking, two counts of theft by receiving stolen property, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and two counts of obstruction, records show. Deanda also faces several traffic violations stemming from the police chase.
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