Two men in custody after fleeing from Monroe County sheriff’s deputies down I-75

Two men were in custody Friday after fleeing the previous night from Monroe County sheriff’s deputies down Interstate 75 southbound, wrecking their vehicle down the road and then running away from the crash site.

Michael Hester, 29, was spotted by the store manager of a Walmart in Forsyth buying clothes at the store Friday morning and arrested, said Anna Lewis, public information coordinator for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Joshua Gannon Deanda, 23, was arrested about an hour after the crash late Thursday night in a wooded area near the interstate, Lewis said.

Here’s what happened, according to Lewis:

About 10 p.m. Thursday, sheriff’s deputies attempted to make a traffic stop on a Chevy Tahoe on I-75 south near a weigh station, but the driver fled and a chase ensued.

Two miles down the road, the Tahoe crashed, hitting power poles at mile marker 187, and the two men, later identified as Deanda and Hester, fled on foot.

Lewis added later that the vehicle crashed after sheriff’s deputies performed a PIT maneuver, or pursuit intervention technique. This is used by law enforcement to force a fleeing vehicle to turn sideways abruptly and stop.

Deputies also found a bag that the men allegedly had tossed out of their vehicles’ window while at the weigh station. The bag contained over a pound of meth, Lewis said.

Both Deanda and Hester are suspected of having affiliations with the MS13 gang, Lewis said.

A Georgia State Patrol helicopter and law enforcement K9s were used in the search for the men.

Charges are pending.

This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 2:30 PM.