According to 1st Lt. Mark Mitchell, deputies were dispatched with an armed robbery that had already occurred. A distraught woman, who was at Delaney Parkway off Crowell Road had called 911 and told dispatchers that she had been kidnapped from the front of her subdivision in DeKalb County by two black males.
The victim reportedly told deputies that she had been forced into her vehicle and driven to Newton County where the two men put her out and continued with her vehicle. She was able to give dispatch an excellent description of both her vehicle and the suspects, according to Mitchell.
As the suspect information was relayed by dispatch, an alert deputy noticed the vehicle near Almon Road and Interstate 20. When deputies attempted to stop the driver a chase ensued. The suspects fled east down the Access Road and into the city of Covington, through the city and north up Alcovy Road. It was at this point when the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle and crashed near Alcovy Road and I-20.
The passenger, identified as 45-year-old Lee Curtiss Swinton of Hartsville, S.C., was taken into custody and the driver of the stolen vehicle fled on foot. Deputies and officers from the Covington Police Department gave chase and were able to apprehend the driver shortly after he fled.
The driver, identified as 36-year-old Rahim Malik Muhammed-el of Stone Mountain was charged with fleeing and attempting to elude an officer, obstruction and reckless driving. Both he and Swinton were turned over to the DeKalb County Police Department where they will allegedly face kidnapping charges.
"I am very proud of the excellent work of the patrol deputies and assisting Covington Police Officers who apprehended these kidnapping suspects," said Newton County Sheriff Ezell Brown. "I am thankful that no law enforcement personnel or any citizen of Newton County was hurt during the incident."
