Police provide perspective among back-to-back chases this week

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Warner Robins saw not just one, but two chases last week.

On Sunday, Warner Robins Police Department primarily gave chase to a suspect in a pursuit that spanned north Warner Robins to Centerville, then ultimately ending at Red Fox Run.

Houston County Sheriff’s Office had a chase as well. According to Capt. Clay Chambers, Monday evening, deputies attempted to stop a suspect who ran a stop sign and nearly hit another vehicle. The driver fled, again ending at Red Fox Run. After a brief foot pursuit, the suspect was apprehended.

Both chases ended around the same location. Law enforcement said in each of their cases, the suspects had no ties to the area.

The county saw two chases in the span of two days; however, Chambers said this is not as common as we may think.

“It’s rare. We don’t have a whole lot of chases, but it’s on the occasion that we have a few chases here and there. It’s not like a series of ongoing things where we go through them every day,” Chambers said.

Chambers said the decision to chase comes down to multiple factors and the totality of the situation, while Warner Robins Police Chief Roy Whitehead further explained their standards to initiate, continue and terminate a chase stems from certified and reviewed policy that ensures officers and the public are safe.

According to their policy, factors include time of day, traffic conditions, pursuit location, weather conditions, road conditions and the nature of the charges.

As Whitehead explained, the nature of the charges must be a forcible felony, and explained that the driver’s actions that day could have caused danger to the community, leading to the chase.

“We do limit our chases. Particularly with this last one, the officer had got permission from the supervisor to engage, who is neutral and detached from what’s going on, right at that point,” Whitehead said. “It was a forcible felony, where shots were fired, we’ve got bullet holes in the police car, that’s why we were pursuing.”

Both Chambers and Whitehead advise motorists to pull over to the right and allow vehicles to pass if they see a chase in progress.

HHJ News