Hartwell - Georgia State Patrol pits wrong-lane DUI suspect
By Pearce Adams
Anderson Independent-Mail
June 30, 2006
HARTWELL — Alcohol, warrants, speeds approaching 100 mph, a nudge from police and a telephone pole proved too much for a Franklin County man to handle.
A 7 p.m. traffic stop in Hart County escalated Wednesday to a pit maneuver, stopping James Hardman, 31, of Lavonia from driving at high speed on the wrong side of a highway, according to Georgia State Patrol Operator Dean Wood.
It ended when GSP Trooper B. Roberts used his vehicle at 7:53 p.m. to spin Mr. Hardman’s 1995 Ford Ranger at Mt. Olivet and West Mt. Hebron roads, Mr. Wood said.
The truck rotated, careening through a telephone pole and mailboxes before coming to rest after hitting the porch of an unoccupied building, he said.
No serious injuries were reported in the chase that also included two Hart County deputies and Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland.
Hardman is charged with DUI, three counts of failure to stop for a stop sign, driving with a suspended license, driving on the wrong side of the roadway, fleeing and eluding, defective equipment, possession of marijuana and speeding, Mr. Wood said.
A spokesman for the Hart County Jail said Mr. Hardman is being held under a $8,800 bond as well as holds for probation violations and warrants. Sheriff Cleveland said Mr. Hardman is wanted in Hart, Franklin, Elbert and Madison counties.
The chase began after a traffic stop near Ga. 77, he said.
It’s the second chase in Hart this month. On June 8, Sheriff Cleveland and about 11 city and county officers pursued four suspects on Ga. 29. The chase involved the suspects playing a game of chicken with the sheriff, a suspect throwing crack cocaine to goats and a discovery of marijuana in a tomato patch. Officers arrested two men at the time, a third on June 14, and the final suspect surrendered on June 21. Another man was arrested June 8 for growing marijuana.
On Wednesday, Mr. Hardman was reportedly driving without a license and fled when the trooper discovered that he was wanted.
Sheriff Cleveland said Mr. Hardman was driving on the wrong side of the highway for most of the chase, which exceeded 90 mph in 45-mph zones. An off-duty deputy and his family were in the only vehicle that was encountered during the chase.
The deputy drove into a field to avoid Mr. Hardman’s truck, Sheriff Cleveland said.
"As long as we can take (Hardman) down and not endanger the public, it was a good chase and lasted a long time," Sheriff Cleveland said.
