Two men are in jail after a high-speed chase and search that lasted more than eight hours ended under a residential trailer on May 16, authorities say.
“It was one of those good days,” said Putnam County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Col. Russell Blenk. “We had everybody there, and other agencies were helping us. It was hot, and everybody was tired, but nobody wanted to quit. That’s why we come to work. Going under a house where two people were with a gun and pulling them out, that’s a fun day.”
Putnam County Sheriff’s Office received a call a few minutes after 6 a.m. from Jasper County Sheriff’s Office informing them of the chase coming over the county line on Highway 16.
The offenders reportedly had carjacked a 2014 Mercedes Benz in Newton County and were fleeing from Newton and Jasper County Sheriff’s Offices and Georgia State Patrol.
PCSO Sgt. Justin Brock said they had Stop Stix ready to set out, but the Mercedes slowed down significantly at the Gregory Bridge on Hwy. 16, and the two occupants jumped out.
“They bush-bonded and went into the river, and we started searching for them in the area between Monticello Highway and Glenwood Springs,” Blenk added. “It was right at shift change, so we had everybody there, and everybody got involved in the hunt. It got to where some of them had been working over 20 hours, but they didn’t want to go home. Teamwork makes the dream work.”
Putnam’s K9 Nix and handler, Deputy Chris Donovan, tracked the suspects for about four hours without success. At some point, the suspects crossed over the river to the other side, Blenk said, and they started getting phone calls of sightings from residents.
“I want to commend the community for their support and for all the calls that helped us while we were out,” Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell said. “My phone was ringing off the hook.”
In addition to Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies and Eatonton Police Department officers, Blenk said law enforcement officers of the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State Patrol, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, and DNR assisted them in the hunt and in keeping the roads closed and monitored.
“All the agencies worked quite well together,” Cardwell added. “I really appreciate Jasper County for coming because they didn’t have a dog in the fight, so to speak.”
A Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office deputy searched with a drone to use for a while, Blenk said. And Georgia State Patrol Trooper Alan Rhodes and his K9, Duco, and GSP Cpl. Dillon Rutledge and his K9 came in to help relieve Nix and Donovan. GSP also assisted with their helicopter to search from the air.
“When the helicopter had to go get refueled, we stopped for lunch, and Dairy Queen in Eatonton provided all of us with free hamburger lunches and cold drinks,” Blenk said. “That was really nice of them, and we really enjoyed that.”
The big break came around 2 p.m. when a woman on Loblolly Drive called and said the two men were captured by her Ring security camera going underneath her trailer. When the law enforcement officers arrived, Sgt. Brock got her safely out of the house.
Law enforcement officers from all the agencies surrounded the yard, many taking cover behind trees and other items due to the wide-open lawn surrounding the residence.
The two offenders refused to come out from under the house when repeatedly ordered to do so. After considering all of their options, Col. Blenk said he and Chief Cardwell decided to go underneath the trailer and get them. Brock and Donovan volunteered to go with them even though they were not told to do so, according to Blenk.
“It was low crawling under the house, and we were covered in clay, but they did not resist when we got to them, so all of us came out, and no one was harmed,” Blenk said.
Once the Putnam law enforcement officers had the suspects out from under the house, EPD Officer Chris Detweiler, GSP Trooper Rhodes, and K9 Duco went under and recovered the gun that was used in hijacking the car, Cardwell said. The handgun, a .40 Glock with an extended magazine clip, had been reported lost in Cobb County, Blenk said.
Jareese Dashod Driskell, 19, of Covington, and Jason Tyrone Howell, 19, of Conyers, were both taken into custody. They were turned over to Newton County authorities first for the armed carjacking and fleeing, and then will be brought back to Putnam County to face charges that are yet to be determined, according to Blenk.
Both men have a criminal history of felony convictions that goes back several years, and there was also an active warrant for Driskell from Newton County.