Police stop high-speed chase

While on patrol on Interstate 85, an officer said an automatic license plate reader on his police vehicle alerted him that a Toyota Celica had a stolen license plate. The officer checked that license plate, which was registered to a Ford Mustang that was reported stolen in Lawrenceville.

The suspect’s vehicle exited I-85 at Ga. Hwy. 53. When the officer turned on his emergency blue lights to stop the vehicle, it continued along Ga. Hwy. 53 reaching 100 m.p.h., according to an incident report.

The officer said the traffic was moderate until the vehicles reached New Cut Road, where the suspect’s vehicle slowed to 80 m.p.h., but passed another vehicle on the double yellow lines of the roadway. The suspect’s car then passed four or five vehicles, which caused oncoming traffic to yield.

An officer in charge told the first officer to stop the pursuit and the first officer turned off his vehicle’s lights and sirens. The Braselton officer turned around and drove toward New Cut Road.

Braselton Incidents
The Braselton Police Department responded to the following incidents last week:
•illegal dumping at a Ga. Hwy. 124 address, where a man said he saw someone in a camper parked at a business parking lot dump a sewage holding tank onto the asphalt. The man was unable to get a license plate number from the camper.

•possession of less than one ounce of marijuana on Interstate 85, where an officer noticed a driver had marijuana residue on his pants and shirt during a traffic stop. The driver said he smoked marijuana before going to work several hours earlier. The man initially denied having marijuana in his vehicle, but said he had a “blunt” under the driver’s seat when an officer said he would search the car because he saw the marijuana residue in plain sight. The officer later found two marijuana cigarettes under the driver’s seat. The 23-year-old from Gainesville man was given a citation and released.

Braselton Arrest
The Braselton Police Department made the following arrest last week:
•William Ralph Larned, 45, 216 Canterbury Road, Gainesville, operating a vehicle with a suspended registration, no proof of motor vehicle insurance and wanted person apprehended for a warrant issued in Gwinnett County.