The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office has completed its report on the pre-dawn crash Wednesday involving a car and a Georgia Department of Corrections pickup truck at Lee Arrendale State Prison near Alto.
According to that report, the wreck happened on Shore Circle west of Mt. Zion Church Road and involved a 2008 Lexus RX driven by 28-year-old Leticia Erika Perry of Martin and a Ford F150 pickup truck driven by 36-year-old William Edgar Hitchcock.
The Lexus was stopped on Shore Circle just off the roadway with no lights on when located by prison personnel who were investigating a suspected contraband drop at the prison fence.
When Corrections Officer Hitchcock located and attempted contact with the driver, she fled, striking Hitchcock on his left side/leg area, and then struck a 2001 Ford F150 prison truck Officer Hitchcock had been driving.
When the Lexus became disabled, Perry fled the scene on foot, injured and bleeding from the wreck. She remains at large as of Thursday afternoon. The vehicle Perry was driving was registered to an individual in Bartow County who allowed her to drive it, officials say.
Both vehicles received functional damage in the wreck.
Hitchcock complained of pain but denied medical attention on scene, says Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore.
Second suspect jailed
Another suspect believed to have been involved in the incident also fled the scene on foot.
Investigators initially believed Devonte Jenkins was in the vehicle with Perry at the time of the wreck. They’ve since concluded he was not. He was outside the vehicle when Perry allegedly rammed into the prison truck while trying to flee.
Jenkins, 26, of Dalton, was on the run for roughly nine hours before authorities tracked him down in Cornelia and arrested him. Jenkins was booked at the Habersham County Detention Center and now faces numerous charges.
The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) charged Jenkins with possession of prohibited items, bringing contraband across guard lines, and four counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (mushrooms, ecstasy, meth, and marijuana).
GDC spokesperson Lori Benoit says state corrections officers are searching for Perry.
“We have dedicated our Fugitive Unit resources toward swift action and recapture,” she says.
Charges are pending for Perry.
Anyone who knows her location is asked to call Habersham County Dispatch at (706) 778-3911.
