By Angie Thompson/ senior reporter
TIFTON — Officers with the Tifton Police Department were involved in a vehicle chase through a residential area Wednesday night, and deputies with the Tift County Sheriff’s officers responded to several reports of thefts and burglaries over the last several days.
Officer Jared Godwin was on patrol at 11:17 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Woodlawn Avenue when he saw a white Pontiac Gran Prix with a cardboard tag that read “Tag Applied For.” Godwin said that as he and the Gran Prix started to cross Elm Street, he turned on his blue lights to try to stop the car. He wrote in his report that the vehicle turned at the corner of Elm Street and, in the process, almost struck Officer Tim Bruner’s patrol car.
Godwin stated that the vehicle, which contained three passengers, reached a high rate of speed as it traveled west on Elm Street and when it got to the street’s intersection with South Main Street, the driver attempted to make a left turn and didn’t slow down for the stop sign there. During the turn, the driver lost control of the car and it jumped the curb and ran over a metal sign and post belonging to the Georgia Department of Transportation. The vehicle also ran over a mailbox that belonged to C.D.’s Gas and Beverage at 1160 S. Main St.
With the right front tire on the Gran Prix flat, the car continued to travel south on U.S. HIghway 41 and then attempted to turn right onto the dirt portion of Beech Street when the driver lost control and hit a large yellow and red sign in the Covington Motors parking lot at 1354 S. Main St. Godwin stated that the driver of the Gran Prix got out of the car and ran west on Beech Street. Godwin chased him on foot while ordering him to stop and to get on the ground. Bruner stood by with the three passengers while Godwin continued his foot chase with the driver.
Godwin caught the driver, Zachary Desmond Rogers, 24, 310 Old Omega Road, E-11, in briars on the back side of railroad tracks. Godwin got Rogers on the ground and held him at gun point until officers Danny Hayes and Bobby Caton arrived and then Godwin handcuffed Rogers. Godwin wrote that officers then pulled Rogers up a hill, put him in Hayes’ patrol car and Hayes transported him to the Tift County Jail.
Godwin stated that he then returned to the Gran Prix where Bruner and Sgt. Adam Story were standing by with the three passengers. Caton searched the vehicle and reported finding a dollar bill with marijuana wrapped inside under the passenger’s seat and a marijuana cigarette in the ashtray. The passengers weren’t charged and were allowed to leave. Photos were taken of the car and of both accident scenes.
Godwin said he then went to the Tift County Jail, read him “implied consent.” The officer transported Rogers to Tift Regional Medical Center’s emergency room where blood and urine samples were taken. He was then transported back to the jail.
Rogers is charged with DUI, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended registration, driving without a license, reckless driving, fleeing or attempting to elude police officers, misdemeanor possession of marijuana, failure to maintain lane, failure to stop or return to the scene of an accident, failure to return to the scene after striking fixed object(s) and unattended vehicle(s).
Officer Mike Gaskins was on patrol at 10:09 p.m. Tuesday when he stated in his report that he saw a gray 1987 Chevy Caprice with defective brake lights at the intersection of 17th Street and Park Avenue. The driver stopped for him in the area of 19th Street and South Park Avenue and when Gaskins reported smelling an odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. He observed a small brown cigarette believed to contain marijuana in the car. Gaskins wrote that he then transported the driver, Shametric Shannon Wright, 24, 3115 Pinehurst Road, to the Tift County Jail. Booking officers at the jail reported discovering a large white rock-like substance and four bags of a white rock-like substance in Wright’s possession. Also seized was $615 in U.S. currency, the officer stated. Wright is charged with selling cocaine, possession of marijuana and obstruction without force.
At 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, a 19-year-old woman reported to Tifton police that she was assaulted while at the Lil’ Pantry on South Central Avenue buying milk. The woman said that she got out of her vehicle at the store and a man approached her and hit her in the head with an open hand and made lude remarks to her. The woman said she then went inside the store and bought milk and when she was back outside, the man continued to harass her verbally and grabbed her on the buttocks.
Also on Tuesday, a volunteer firefighter reported that someone had stolen 24 fire hoses worth $3,120 from the Chula Volunteer Fire Department.
In unrelated incidents, an employee of Northside Baptist Church on One Blue Devil Way told a TPD officer Wednesday that someone entered the women’s restroom and stole $46 in cash from the church’s M&M; fundraiser box. Also reportedly stolen were 46 of the 52 packs of M&Ms; for sale.
Deputies with the TCSO responded Saturday to a call at a residence on Ray Taylor Road. A man reported that someone stole items with an estimated value of $925 from his storage room under his carport. On Wednesday morning, deputies responded to a residence in the 1900 block of Bell Street where a woman reported that someone kicked in her front door and stole a man’s birthstone ring valued at $200; a man’s diamond ring valued at $200; a mans wedding band valued at $250; a woman’s diamond ring valued at $150; and a woman’s birthstone ring valued at $150.
To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.
