A suspect arrested for stealing a truck pleaded with officers to shoot him as he was being taken into custody, an eyewitness to the arrest says.
Officers arrested 30-year-old Quinton Lee Batson, of Mt. Airy, near the home of Tracey Giles on Rudeseal Road in Mt. Airy on Monday afternoon, April 1.
Deputy spots truck in Clarkesville
Earlier in the day, the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office issued a lookout for a green 1997 Ford Ranger that had been stolen from a home in Demorest on Easter Sunday. A deputy spotted the stolen pickup on GA 197 South near the Dollar General Store outside of Clarkesville and followed it through town, waiting for other deputies to arrive to assist him.
According to the pursuing officer, the truck driver, later identified as Batson, was driving recklessly. After he passed another vehicle in a no passing zone on Double Bridge Road, SGT Daniel Seeley attempted a traffic stop but says the driver failed to yield.
Seeley pursued the pickup down Ansley Road. The fleeing driver narrowly missed being hit by another vehicle when he ran the stop and pulled onto GA 197 South, officials say. Batson continued onto Hazel Creek Road with Seeley and a sheriff’s office traffic unit in pursuit.
“As the vehicle approached Rudeseal Road and deputies were trying to get into position to conduct a PIT maneuver, the driver slammed on the truck’s brakes, then accelerated, attempting to turn left onto Rudeseal Road but traveling across the intersection into the ditch,” says sheriff’s office spokesperson Rob Moore.
The driver then fled on foot and ran through the woods to Giles’ backyard.
Giles ‘scared at first’
“A female police officer saw him and called out several times for him to get on the ground. He didn’t and kept yelling at her to just shoot him. He was saying both his parents are dead and he has nothing left to live for,” Giles says, recounting how the incident unfolded.
The deputy used a Taser on Batson. Giles says, “He hit the ground and kept yelling at them to just kill him.”
She says Batson “thrashed around for a few minutes” after he was tased.
“I was scared at first because I didn’t really know what was going on. The officers had it under control in no time, though,” Giles tells Now Habersham.
Deputies called in an ambulance for Batson for a medical evaluation. Afterward, they took him to the Habersham County Detention Center for booking.
Batson faces numerous charges
Sheriff’s investigators charged Batson with theft by taking a motor vehicle and theft by taking. The second charge is for the theft of two gas cans that were taken from properties on J Warren Road near Cornelia just before noon Monday. Moore says the cans were found in the back of the truck after the pursuit and have been returned to the owner.
SGT Seeley charged Batson with felony fleeing and possession of a controlled substance.
Batson also faces numerous charges from the Georgia State Patrol, including driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving on a suspended license, and numerous other traffic violations.
Moore says the patrol vehicles did not make contact with the truck during the pursuit. Investigators took the truck to the sheriff’s office in Clarkesville for processing.
“We appreciate the public’s help spreading our lookout on social media and the media’s help with that as well,” says Sheriff Joey Terrell.
