Seen right outside my back window.
There's a total of about eight cop cars there - the one in the foreground with its blues off is a state car, and there are Gainesville and Hall County units, too. The pickup on the grass is a K9 unit.
It was pretty noisy 'round here for a while - first, i heard something loud - either a big bike or something like a high-performance four with little or no muffler - go by, shifting as it passed, and i figured "Another one of those cowboys who likes to tear up back roads on a dark night. Too bad there're no cops around ..." And then the siren went by right behind him.
I was hoping that if he continued on up Riverside Drive, where it changes to Quarry Street at the city limits, he'd Darwinise himself on the off-camber curves with no street lighting. But apparently he didn't.
For the next twenty minutes or more, we heard police sirens, ambulance sirens and (possibly) fire truck sirens tearing around the area.
Then Kate went out to get a smoke, and she stuck her head back in and announced that very cop in the world seemed to be stopped right outside.
I asked one of the cops what was going on, and he said they'd been chasing a guy in a truck (he didn't say exactly why, but when i asked if the guy was running from a shooting or holdup or whatever, he said no). In fact, the chase had apparently doubled back at least once - it would be easy to shut off this area with roadblocks if you moved quickly enough - and the guy had abandoned his truck a ways further up the hill over there and run for the woods.
Pending further info, i'm guessing that it was either someone who already had some DUIs, or was driving on an invalid license, or had other warrants out on him (or D: All of the Above) ... who they tried to pull over for some other reason - maybe for having a headlight out - and did a runner.
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FURTHER INFORMATION, Monday 6/15 2015:
UPDATE on the above:
Gainesville chase lands local man in jail
and:Brandon Reed/Access North Georgia wrote: A Gainesville man faces a laundry list of charges after leading State Troopers on a chase through portions of the city Saturday night.
According to CPL D. Van Scoten of the Georgia State Patrol, 39-year-old Ronald Bradley Kinsey fled Troopers when they attempted to stop him for laying drags on White Sulfur Road north of Jesse Jewell Parkway.
Troopers pursued Kinsey's red Chevrolet Pick-Up down Beverly Drive and Lakeview before attempting to use a pit maneuver on the fleeing vehicle. Kinsey was able to evade the maneuver, and the chase continued back to White Sulfur. While evading another attempt to stop him, Kinsey hit a trooper's vehicle head-on before continuing.
At that point, officers noted that there was a child in the vehicle, and made no further pit attempts.
The pursuit continued back onto Beverly, and ended when the Kinsey jumped out of the vehicle on Fairview, fleeing into the woods. The child and a female passenger remained in the truck.
Kinsey would be captured later by Hall County Sheriff's Deputies off of GA Hwy 11 at the Texaco gas station.
According to Van Scoten, Kinsey faces some 28 charges, including DUI, reckless driving, suspended license, obstruction of an officer, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and aggravated assault.
Authorities: Man arrested after car chase, foot pursuit
So, apparently, the chase had been going on for a while before it got here the first time.Joshua Silavent/Gainesville Times wrote: A Gainesville man was arrested Saturday night for alleged assault on a peace officer, DUI and child endangerment following a car chase and foot pursuit through the city.
Ronald Bradley Kinsey, 39, has no bond at this time.
Georgia State Patrol officers tried to stop Kinsey, who was traveling with a reportedly unrelated child and female passenger, after witnessing alleged traffic violations.
Officers gave chase along residential streets for about three to four minutes, and at one point Kinsey allegedly hit an officer’s car head-on, though no injuries were reported.
Kinsey eventually fled his automobile on foot along Fairview Drive near Limestone Parkway.
“He just stopped all the sudden out of the blue and jumped out and ran,” said GSP Cpl. D. Van Scoten. “That’s when we lost him, initially.”
Law enforcement later received a call about a suspicious person holed up in the bathroom of a nearby convenience store and gas station.
“We assisted (Georgia State Patrol) at their request when a violator fled on foot from a traffic stop,” Hall County Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Deputy Nicole Bailes told The Times. “Our deputies located the driver hiding inside a Texaco on Cleveland Highway approximately two hours after (he) fled.”
Kinsey was arrested after a short scuffle with officers, according to Van Scoten, and booked into the Hall County Jail.
Additional charges on Kinsey include reckless driving, driving on a suspended license, several traffic violations, child cruelty, false imprisonment, kidnapping, obstruction and felony fleeing.
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Comment to the above on the Misfile forum:
My response:Rob Carriere wrote: Sheesh.
Some people not only wave red flags at bulls - they go kick the bull in the balls before they do, just to make sure they have its attention. You have to remember - this is "Hey Bubba - hold mah beer and watch this!" Territory (though only the fringes; for the true, full manifestation you need Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana or (especially) Texas.
Reconstructing:
He apparently did his party trick in front of a state patrol officer on White Sulphur (red arrow), and then hit Beverley (blue arrow), crossed Limestone Parkway (the major road shown) and then turned left on Lakeview Drive (light green arrow). At some point along the way, he had his head-butting contest with a state patrol vehicle, because Helen saw him go by and said there was only one headlight.
Running up Lakeview, he passed our house (red "X"), continued up Lakeview (purple arrow), doubled back, and abandoned the vehicle (and his passengers) on Fairview Drive (dark green arrow), fleeing on foot.
They caught him at the Texaco station marked with a black arrow about a mile away on Park Hill Drive/Cleveland Highway.
One of the more amusing aspects that suggests he wasn't exactly local - or was even stupider than you'd think: See the orange arrow pointing off the edge of the map? That indicates the location of the Hall County Sheriff's Youth Detention Facility and the Hall County 911 center on the other side of Crescent Ave - in easy eye and earshot of where the whole thing began.
(Larger view of the map)
