An Alto man faces nearly a dozen charges in Habersham County after leading deputies on a vehicle pursuit Thursday afternoon, March 19.
Zachary Magowan, 32, is charged with driving under the influence, two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude, too fast for conditions, failure to obey stop sign, two counts of reckless driving, driving on wrong side of the road, unsafe vehicle or equipment, improper passing in a no passing zone, and hit and run/failure to stop and render aid.
At about 12:45 p.m. Thursday, White County 911 dispatchers notified Habersham County E-911 dispatchers that a Flock camera had picked up a 20212 Honda Civic that had been involved with an earlier chase involving White County Sheriff’s Office and Lumpkin County Sheriff’s traveling into Hall County.
Habersham County E-911 dispatchers gave a lookout on the vehicle countywide to the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office and municipal police departments, with White County Sheriff’s Office advising they had charges for their earlier pursuit.
A Habersham County Sheriff’s Office deputy encountered the wanted vehicle on the northbound offramp from Ga. 365 to Ga. 385 and attempted to pull it over on the bridge over Ga. 365.
The driver of the car refused to stop and proceeded into Demorest, turning left onto Cap Fry Road.
A deputy was able to conduct a PIT maneuver on Cap Fry Road, but the fleeing vehicle was able to get away and travel on Cap Fry Road, turning right onto Cannon Bridge Road (Ga. 105).
Deputies were able to conduct a second PIT maneuver near Living Faith Lane on Cannon Bridge Road, with the car traveling off the left shoulder of the highway into an embankment with one rear wheel off the ground.
The driver refused to get out of the car upon deputies’ commands, so he was removed and taken into custody on the scene.
The Habersham County deputy encountered the vehicle at 12:54 p.m. The pursuit began at 12:55 p.m. and deputies ended it safely with a PIT maneuver at 1 p.m.
Magowan was booked in at the Habersham County Detention Center in Clarkesville.
There was no damage to Habersham County Sheriff’s Office vehicles.
