SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix has identified the five suspects arrested in a felony traffic stop following a high-speed pursuit early Thursday morning that ended in Butts County.
The pursuit involved a vehicle suspected of involvement in multiple drive-by shootings, including one in the early morning hours of May 17 that was video recorded by a Ring camera at the residence targeted in the drive-by.
According to a press release issued by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, at approximately 10 p.m. Wednesday night, deputies were patrolling inside the city of Griffin due to several drive-by shooting incidents that have occurred over the past few weeks.
“As was announced last week, in response to the recent rise of drive-by shooting incidents in Spalding County, mostly centered in the city of Griffin, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office launched another operation targeting criminal street gangs and the areas they frequently visit in the Griffin-Spalding area,” the press release stated. “While on the scene of a reported stabbing at the Fairmount Gym, Griffin P.D. officers reported that they heard shots fired in the nearby area, and Spalding County deputies responded. The actual scene was eventually determined to be near a residence located at 409 Jefferson Street where approximately thirty (30) shots had been fired. A description of the vehicle involved was given out by Griffin P.D. officers as soon as it was available to them.”
SCSO officials say that Deputy Kyle Mason saw a GPD unit behind the suspect vehicle and he fell in behind them. An attempt was made to conduct a traffic stop on North 6th Street near the 6th Street bridge. The suspects sped up and began fleeing south on 6th to Hwy 16, where they turned east on Highway 16 and increased speed, the SCSO reported.
SCSO Deputies Mason, James Dildy and Hannah Pippin became actively involved in the pursuit along with GPD, with speeds then reaching between 90 and 100 miles per hour.
Authorities said that based on the totality of the circumstance, the nature and violence of the offense, past incidents of this nature where people have been shot at and their homes shot up, belief that these were the suspects involved and their escape would lead to more incidents or possible deaths, the pursuit fell well within the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office pursuit policy.
A GPD CAGE unit officer, who happened to be farther out Highway 16 near the Spalding-Butts County line, heard radio traffic about the pursuit approaching his location and was able to get in a position to set out spike strips. This action was successful and eventually caused the vehicle to slow and stop.
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I always believe in giving credit where credit is due. My folks along with Griffin P.D. did an outstanding job last night. I am proud of them all and what they accomplished in stopping this threat.
Spalding county sheriff darrell dix
Five suspects were located in the vehicle and were taken into custody, they are identified as Deontrez Shivers, age 19, of Jackson; Christopher Walker, age 25 of Flovilla; Jeston Morgan, age 26, of Jackson, Gregory Gee, age 21, of Flovilla; and Devin Brown, age 20, Atlanta.
All five suspects are currently being held in the Spalding County Jail.
“During the initial search of the vehicle incident to arrest and impound, they found a handgun magazine, but no weapons. Griffin P.D. impounded the vehicle so a further search could be conducted,” the press release stated. “While walking in the area where the vehicle slowed and stopped, Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Nick Bruce and Deputy Kyle Mason located a 10 mm Glock and a 9 mm Glock on the highway which are believed to have been thrown out of the vehicle during the pursuit. Both weapons have been secured for testing and video review.”
“We believe that this vehicle and its occupants are the ones who are and have been responsible for some if not all of the drive-by shootings that have been happening. The fact that they are from out of town is not surprising. This is a common tactic used by gangs in order to make identifying the ones committing crimes more difficult to identify. Someone will come here and do this, and someone from here will go there and do the same thing. It is not uncommon,” said Sheriff Darrell Dix. “I always believe in giving credit where credit is due. My folks along with Griffin P.D. did an outstanding job last night. I am proud of them all and what they accomplished in stopping this threat. I just reiterated to my people yesterday in my staff meeting that they will continue to patrol in the City and assist Griffin P.D. any way they could. I really believe that having more people directly focusing on the problem and the areas where they are occurring paid off last night with these arrests. It also proves once again that you can accomplish more if you just simply work together with a common goal of making the entire community better and safer.”
Dix also extended thanks to Butts County Sheriff Gary Long and deputies from the Butts County Sheriff’s Office for providing assistance at the scene.
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