GREENE COUNTY
The cement mixer fleeing westbound on I-20 Monday morning may have started out as a churning urn of burning funk but ended up a hefty hunk of steaming junk after Georgia State Patrol troopers disabled it just inside the Greene County line.
Erik Adam Bodie, 41, of Martinez now faces charges of motor vehicle theft and felony fleeing and attempting to elude (due to driving in a manner that would put the public in risk/harm), as well as citations for reckless driving, running a red light as filed by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. Multiple charges from other agencies may yet be filed, because the pursuit continued across several counties.
According to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy J.M. Muniz was dispatched to Gas Pro at 4800 Columbia Road on the morning of Feb. 27 in reference to a stolen vehicle report.
The complainant said he parked a cement truck belonging to CRM Concrete while he went into the store to purchase items but when he returned the truck was gone. He told the deputy he was only inside the store for a few minutes and left the engine running and the keys in the ignition because cement mixers need to rotate to prevent the cement from hardening.
The Georgia State Patrol was notified at 9:05 p.m. and a unit from Post. 25 in Grovetown became the primary pursuit unit on I-20 westbound at milepost 183 in Columbia County.
According to Lt. Michael Burns of the GSP, “two troopers attempted to use stop sticks to disable the concrete truck and bring the pursuit to an end, but they were unsuccessful.”
Burns said the truck left the interstate at Georgia Highway 22 in Taliaferro County, and continued north, before returning to I-20 westbound.
According to Burns, deputies with the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office attempted to try stop sticks on Interstate 20 West at mile marker 148, but the driver of the concrete truck swerved toward these deputies, driving around the stop sticks.
“A trooper riding in the passenger seat of another trooper’s patrol car was able to safely fire rounds into the radiator and hydraulic tanks near mile marker 146, which ultimately disabled the concrete truck,” Burns said in an email. “The driver was taken into custody without further incident.”
According to several published reports, the cement mixer discharged its contents on the interstate and caused substantial traffic delays for motorists as it lumbered along the interstate.
According to Sgt. Pete Finch of the GCSO, local deputies were not involved in the arrest of Bodie since he had barely crossed into Greene County when the pursuit ended.