Two men are in custody after a high-speed chase that ended in Clarkesville Thursday.
Tallulah Falls Police Chief Tonya Elrod attempted to stop a black BMW 325i for traveling 75 in a 45-mph zone on Ga. 15/U.S. 441 in the Rabun County portion of that town.
The car failed to yield about 12:15, and traveled along several side streets overlooking the highway, then turned right onto Ga. 15 and continued to flee.
“The speeds were not bad at first — around 75 mph,” Elrod said. “He was driving kind of in the center of the road to try to keep me from going around him.”
Elrod requested assistance from the Georgia State Patrol, but Habersham County deputies were the first to reach the southbound pursuit.
Once sheriff’s office Dodge Chargers engaged in the chase, speeds increased.
A trooper had set up at Tom Arrendale Interchange, where the vehicle turned right toward Clarkesville on Toccoa Highway.
Occupants of the car threw out stuff while on Toccoa Highway, including a handgun that was later recovered by the sheriff’s office explosive ordnance detection team, Sgt. Eugene Kemp and Roxy.
Investigators also recovered suspected cocaine or Fentanyl from the roadsides.
The pursuit continued until officers backed off and lost contact with the car as the chase neared congested Clarkesville during lunch hour traffic.
When Elrod turned in at Ingles in Clarkesville, she found the car.
A sheriff’s office canine team arrived and began searching for those who had been in the car.
One of the men was located at nearby Zaxby’s, while the other was found sitting on a bench at Ingles, Elrod said.
While one of them would not speak to officers, the two men were wearing matching fanny packs.
One provided a Florida ID, while the other provided one from Fieldale.
The car was impounded.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has joined the case and will take the drug and gun charges, while Elrod said she will take the traffic charges.
Elrod said more information about the men involved, including their names, will be released Friday.
The investigation is continuing.
Police officers from Clarkesville and Demorest assisted Elrod, GSP, and the sheriff’s office.
