Cops heard the screech of sawed metal at a Macon car lot. Then a midnight chase was on
It was going on 1 a.m. Saturday when three Bibb County sheriff’s deputies answering a possible burglary call at Riverside Ford arrived to the sound of sawed metal.
Soon they spotted the culprit, who was allegedly cutting catalytic converters off five Econoline vans and a pickup truck at the Riverside Drive dealership, according to an arrest warrant.
The exhaust-cleaning devices contain precious metals and can fetch $300, if not more, for thieves who steal them. Incidents of such thefts have soared in recent years.
The suspect in Saturday’s incident, Jack Randall Wallace, 35, of Warner Robins, allegedly dashed through a hole in the dealership’s fence and bolted into some woods toward a nearby interstate, the warrant stated.
“I pursued on foot, announcing very loud and clear commands, ‘Sheriff’s Office stop!’ but the accused was able to make it to his parked car on the shoulder of I-16 and flee before I could catch him,” one of the deputies wrote in the warrant.
Another deputy in a patrol car gave chase at speeds of up to 90 mph before Wallace was said to have crashed into a ditch.
He was jailed on charges that included criminal damage, fleeing the police, theft, obstruction and reckless driving.