Alert Peachtree City residents helped police capture a suspect who bolted from a traffic stop late Monday morning, officials said.
The suspect, later identified as Dontevious Ferrell, 24, of Gay in Meriwether County, had been pulled over on Huddleston Drive but sped away and abandoned his vehicle soon after in a business park, attempting to escape on foot, police said.
Officers distributed information on Ferrell via social media and email alerts as they set up a perimeter in the Planterra Ridge subdivision, police said. Citizens who received the alerts called 911 to give officers Ferrell’s location until he could be captured by officers and the K-9 unit from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.
Ferrell was wanted out of two counties for violation of probation, police said. Now he faces additional charges of driving with a suspended license, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, resisting a police officer, loitering and being on the premises of another without permission.
Police thanked citizens who subscribe to their social media feeds and civic alerts to stay informed of emergency events. The department has a presence on Facebook and Twitter along with the city’s emergency email alert system.