Angie Thompson/The Tifton Gazette
CNHI
TIFTON —
A 21-year-old Ocilla man who switched seats with a passenger and jumped out of a vehicle when a GSP trooper attempted to stop him was captured after two hours in an area north of Chula-Brookfield Road Thursday afternoon.
According to Senior Trooper Richard Kennedy of the GSP Post 13 in Tifton, the incident began at 1:38 p.m. Thursday when he initiated a routine traffic stop when he clocked a vehicle traveling 78 mph in a posted 55 mph speed zone. Kennedy said that Quantaveous Hall, 908 N. Union St. Ocilla, changed places with a passenger in the vehicle before the vehicle came to a complete stop and wound up in the back seat of the vehicle. He said Hall exited the vehicle on the passenger’s side closest to the road and ran toward Chula-Brookfield Road and disappeared into the woods.
Kennedy said the two passengers in the vehicle stayed with the vehicle and he was able to detain them and get the vehicle off of the roadway. He then drove his GSP vehicle down the road in an attempt to find Hall. He called for assistance and other troopers from the Tifton post and deputies with the Irwin County Sheriff’s Office came to assist. He said dogs from a law enforcement canine unit also arrived to aid in the search.
Kennedy said it just so happened a detective with the Ocilla Police Dept., who lives north of Chula-Brookfield Road, offered his assistance in locating Hall. Kennedy said that officer was the one who apprehended Hall in the woods on the officer’s own property line.
Hall is charged with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, driving on a suspended license and obstruction of an officer without force.
To contact reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.
