TIFTON — A Tifton man was arrested Thursday morning after personnel at Eighth Street Middle School said he told them that he was an overseer for Jesus and that he needed to go through the building.

Principal Ryan Gravitt said Thursday that the man walked into the front office of the school after entering the school’s front lobby and trying to get through locked doors that lead to classroom halls. Once inside the school’s office, he talked to a receptionist, reportedly telling her that he was overseeing the school for Jesus and needed to walk through the school.

“At one time he got on his hands and knees and bowed,” Gravitt said.

Gravitt said the man also acted as if he was writing something on the wall with his finger. At another point, he made an “X” on a map posted on the wall in the school’s office and, according to Gravitt, said “It’s done now.”

The man made his way past the counter in the office and through a door that leads to a stairway before Gravitt and Greg Daughtry, the school’s resource officer, were able to chase him as he ran out of the building. Gravitt said the man got into a red 2000 Nissan Frontier truck parked near the flag pole and as he and Daughtry tried to stop him, the man attempted to run over them. Gravitt said the truck’s side mirror hit his arm, but he wasn’t injured.

Gravitt said he and Daughtry got into Daughtry’s vehicle and followed the man at speeds that never got above 45 mph. Other members of the Tifton Police Department, the Tift County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia State Patrol were able to stop the man’s vehicle at the intersection of Main Street and U.S. Highway 82.

Gravitt said that the school “is as safe as you can make a school” and that he was pleased with the way his staff handled the situation.

“The receptionist did what she was supposed to do,” Gravitt said. “I am very proud of the way our staff handled this and the good job law enforcement did.”

Gravitt said it was “a great asset to have a school resource officer” at the school where 1,200 students attended classes every day. He said that without Daughtry, it would have taken longer for law enforcement responding to “get this man under control.”

“All I would have been able to do was call 911 and give the man’s direction of travel,” Gravitt said.

Earl Smith, 54, who gave a Plaza Drive address, was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer by vehicle; fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement; aggravated assault by vehicle; and obstruction of an officer with force.



To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.