High-speed chase through Dalton ends in Tennessee 12.05.07

Two people in a stolen Ford Mustang led police on a high speed chase through the streets of Dalton Tuesday before they were stopped more than 40 miles away, near Cleveland, Tenn., officials said. Jimmy Raines, 19, and a juvenile female, both of Union County, Tenn., were arrested by the Tennessee Highway Patrol around mile marker 19 on I-75 in Tennessee, Tennessee Department of Safety spokesman Mike Browning said.

Both the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia State Patrol were involved in the chase, which at one point reached 157 mph, officials said.Around 1 p.m., a 2004 red Ford Mustang convertible with dealer tags, allegedly stolen in LaFollette, Tenn., was involved in a hit and run accident in Gordon County. The other vehicle in the incident reportedly gave chase, officials said. A tractor trailer driver reported the vehicles northbound at a high rate of speed on I-75 near Dalton, officials with the Georgia State Patrol said. The Mustang exited I-75 on Walnut Avenue headed east, officials said. The driver turned south onto Thornton Avenue and traveled a few miles before doubling back up Thornton and Walnut onto the interstate, pursued by sheriff’s deputies. Georgia State Patrol units continued the chase northbound on I-75 and were joined by members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The Mustang avoided a spike strip deployed at mile marker 1 in Tennessee, about a mile from the I-24/I-75 split, before it struck another spike strip at mile marker 11, near the exit for Ooltewah, Tenn. Browning said the Mustang kept going even after it hit the spike strip and struck several barrels in a construction area.

The vehicle finally came to a stop after it ran over another spike strip at mile marker 18, near Cleveland. Officials said Raines and the unnamed juvenile ran from the vehicle but were quickly apprehended.

Officials at the Bradley County (Tenn.) Jail said Raines was in custody Tuesday afternoon and no bond had been set. They said they could not comment on the status of the juvenile female.