Fannin deputies end chase with
Stuart’s capture
Shannon Joe Stuart was caught by Fannin County Sheriff’s Office deputies after a high speed chase and foot pursuit Wednesday, September 25.
Stuart, 27, of 110 Carr Street in Copperhill, had run from deputies a week earlier and had been hiding since then.
Friday he was held in the Fannin County Detention Center after bond was denied by Chief Magistrate Judge Brian Jones.
Stuart allegedly stole a vehicle from Prospect Street in Copperhill Tuesday, September 17, according to Captain Keith Barker of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Thursday, September 18, Sergeant Kevin Dye of the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of a stolen vehicle in the area of Georgia Highway 60 and the pre-K facility in Mineral Bluff.
There he made contact with Stuart. When Stuart was told to stop, he fled, almost striking Dye, hitting a mailbox and another vehicle, Dye’s report said.
Due to the heavy traffic and danger to the general public, Dye chose not to pursue Stuart. The incident happened around 4:00 p.m.
About an hour later, the vehicle was located abandoned on Cutcane Road.
Dye’s report said at 6:30 p.m. a female called Fannin County dispatch saying she came home to find a man in an upstairs bedroom of her Cutcane Road residence. The intruder had left, walking toward Van Hook Church.
Dye and Deputy Sheriff Richard Gazaway responded to the area, but were unable to locate the suspect.
A week later, September 25, Corporal Dustin Carder along with Sergeant John Bramlett and deputies Ethan Martin and Jesse Godsey went to a location on Madola Road to serve warrants on Stuart, after learning of his possible location.
Stuart was believed to be at a residence, and driving a white Dodge Ram 1500 that was stolen from the Pleasant Hill area of Polk County that morning. Barker said Stuart was believed to have taken the truck from the area then gone directly into Fannin County.
Carder’s report said when he was getting out of his vehicle at the residence, which Sheriff Dane Kirby said was near the end of Madola Road, he saw Stuart driving the truck on Madola Road from Mobile Road. He got back in his vehicle and gave chase.
The pursuit continued down Madola Road toward Epworth with the suspect reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour.
At one point, Stuart almost struck Lieutenant Terry Stanley head on. He also passed a stopped school bus that was letting children off. It was at this point Carder and the other deputies lost sight of Stuart because of heavy traffic.
Carder’s report said Fannin dispatch received a call the truck had turned onto LaVista Drive.
Deputies converged on the area, with Stanley blocking the north end of LaVista Drive at Highway 5.
Investigations Sergeant J.K. Daveport and Investigator Scott Galloway found tracks the truck left leading onto an old logging road at the end of West View Drive, a dead end off LaVista.
They followed the tracks on foot, Carder’s report said. As they approached the truck, Stuart jumped back into the vehicle and fled farther down the road. But the truck became stuck, and Stuart fled on foot with Davenport and Galloway following.
Meanwhile, Kirby had set up near the Life Force helicopter base in the industrial park while other deputies remained in the area.
Tri-State EMC employees advised dispatch they saw the suspect following the fence line along the back of the property.
Carder’s report said he, Godsey and Kirby were in the area within seconds.
He and Godsey went in behind the subject, who Davenport and Galloway were still following, and Kirby came from the other direction.
Carder spotted Stuart hiding in the tall grass and held him at gunpoint while Godsey and Kirby converged and arrested Stuart.
Kirby said he believed Stuart stopped to hide when he spotted him set up in the industrial park.
Stuart faces five felony and 13 misdemeanors in Fannin County. Those include two felony and four misdemeanor charges taken out by Dye, two felony and nine misdemeanor charges sworn out by Carder and a felony burglary charge sworn out by Gazaway. The burglary charge resulted from the previous week’s incident at the woman’s house on Cutcane Road.
In addition, Barker said Stuart is charged in Polk County with two auto thefts and a state violation of probation warrant.