Big rig leads 100-mile chase from Macon, through Forsyth to Atlanta

A truck driver who was throwing items out the window at Bibb County sheriff’s deputies led a chase from Macon to downtown Atlanta, even after Monroe County deputies shot out his tires.

Bernard Mageto Monyoncho, 26, of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, faces multiple charges including aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, felony fleeing, open container and DUI, according to Allison Selman-Willis, public information officer for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

About 11:15 p.m. Monday, Bibb sheriff’s deputies learned the truck was driving erratically with no headlights on while heading north on Interstate 475 near Zebulon Road.

Without signaling, the truck cab without an attached trailer continually cut across lanes of traffic, with no apparent regard for others’ safety, according to a sheriff’s incident report.

The driver slammed on brakes several times to try to disable the Bibb patrol vehicle, the report said.

Monroe County deputies picked up the chase at Interstate 75 at Rumble Road and shot out two of the truck’s tires near mile marker 191, but Monyoncho kept driving on the rims.

Another deputy shot out the front tire near mile marker 206.

Monroe deputies continued to pursue the truck to Henry County, where construction at mile marker 210 suspended their active pursuit, Selman-Willis said.

Henry County laid stop sticks on the highway, and the rig still kept going.

“He was driving on his rims,” Selman-Willis said. “The tires were gone.”

The pursuit ran at very slow speeds at times with an officer from the Motor Carrier Compliance Division of the Georgia Department of Public Safety following behind.

Once the vehicle entered Atlanta, a Georgia state trooper got involved in the pursuit, according to a department spokeswoman.

Some time after 1 a.m., the driver was arrested in the 2200 block of 16th Street in Atlanta where officers detected an odor of alcohol in the vehicle, the report noted.

The driver was taken back to Monroe County to face charges, including littering and reckless driving.

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Big rig leads 100-mile chase from Macon, through Forsyth to Atlanta ."