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Crash starts brush fire in subdivision
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A Conyers man fleeing Rockdale deputies Sunday night is behind bars after he crashed into a subdivision entrance on Johnson Road, causing a brush fire with the car.

Jaymes Michael Baker, 24, was driving north on Ebenezer Road in a green Honda Civic with one headlight around midnight when a Rockdale County Sheriff's Office deputy spotted him.

Baker reportedly began driving faster and passed another car in a blind curve, according to RCSO reports. He turned right onto Johnson Road and then reportedly drove through the four-way stop on Flat Shoals Road.

When the deputy's patrol car caught up with the suspect, Baker's car had left the roadway at the entrance of Windsor Creek subdivision, struck a light pole, and drove into the brush.

"I exited my patrol car and saw that the pine straw surrounding the vehicle was on fire and that the driver had fled as the vehicle was unoccupied," wrote the reporting deputy.

The deputy notified dispatchers about the fire and then pursued the fleeing driver on foot. Rockdale Fire and Rescue personnel extinguished the brush fire, which burned the front part of the car.

"I could hear the person moving ahead of me and I closed the gap," he wrote. After about 200 yards of thick brush, the deputy reached a creek where he was able to catch Baker and handcuff him.

Baker initially told deputies he had been held up at gunpoint and that he couldn't tell if it had been a black male or white male because of the suspect's hoodie.

"I returned to Jaymes and asked him if he wanted to tell me the truth. Jaymes hung his head and told me he had just been scared when he saw me behind him," wrote the deputy.

Baker was booked into the Rockdale County jail and charged with Obstruction of Law Enforcement misdemeanor, Stop Sign Yield Violation, Reckless Driving, Improper Lane Change, Too Fast for Conditions.

 

 

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IN BRIEF (March 12, 2:20 a.m.): A man fleeing Rockdale deputies Sunday night is behind bars after he crashed into a subdivision entrance on Johnson Road, causing a brush fire with the car.

Around midnight on Sunday, deputies reportedly spotted the driver of a green Honda sedan driving erratically. The man reportedly fled and ended up crashing into a power pole and into the brush at the entrance of the Windsor Creek subdivision, at the intersection of Revel Cove and Johnson Road, near Flat Shoals Road. Although the driver still tried to escape on foot, deputies were able to apprehend the suspect. The brush fire was extinguished by Rockdale County firefighters.

Check back for more on this developing story.