A Tyrone man led Peachtree

City police on a chase that reached over 70 mph as he headed the wrong

way on Ga. Highway 74 north early Thursday morning.

The chase ended on Tyrone Road

in Tyrone when the driver crashed his vehicle after reaching a curve in

the road, said Maj. Mike DuPree of the Peachtree City Police Department.

An officer spotted Aaron Bloss

Jones, 22, as his vehicle went north in the southbound lanes of Hwy. 74

when it left the Marketplace retail center just after midnight, police

said. The officer, who was on a traffic stop at the time, took to the

northbound lanes as he sped up beside Jones's vehicle with his blue lights

and siren activated, DuPree said.

The officer also used his patrol

car's spotlight to try and get Jones's attention that he was on the wrong

side of the road, DuPree said.

Jones switched lanes several

times as he proceeded northward, avoiding oncoming vehicles that were

headed in the proper direction, DuPree said.

"There were some near

misses," DuPree said. "We were very fortunate that they were

able to get out of the way."

Tyrone police were alerted

as the pursuit headed north on Hwy. 74, and they tried to direct him into

the northbound lanes to no avail, DuPree added.

Jones finally exited the southbound

lanes of Hwy. 74 when he turned right onto Tyrone Road, DuPree said. Speeds

again reached the 70 to 75 mph range before the crash occurred in the

Tyrone city limits, DuPree added.

Jones has been charged with

DUI, reckless driving, attempting to flee and elude a police officer,

driving on the wrong side of the road, failure to maintain lane and a

seat belt violation.

Jones told an officer after

the incident that he was unaware that he was driving on the wrong way

on the road, DuPree said. After the crash he was checked out by Fayette

County paramedics before he was taken to the Fayette County Jail, DuPree

added.

Peachtree City's pursuit policy

allows for pursuits in situations like this because "he was considered

an imminent threat to the public," said DuPree, noting that a head-on

collision could have easily occurred.

Last July, after a police chase

initiated in Luthersville went through Peachtree City and killed local

resident Chuck Vicha, Police Chief James Murray called on then-Gov. Roy

Barnes to issue statewide restrictions on when police officers can pursue

a suspect. Barnes declined, and Murray has received criticism from other

law enforcement officials for his stance.

State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg)

later held a public hearing on the issue during which it was discovered

that police officers and sheriff's deputies don't receive specialized

training to end police chases; such training is given to troopers of the

Georgia State Patrol.

The legislature passed a bill

this year requiring all law enforcement agencies to implement a pursuit

policy or risk losing their state funding. When that bill was signed,

Murray said being selective about when to chase a criminal is a matter

of protecting the public, which is the ultimate goal of police.

Another bill that would have

made fleeing a police officer a felony did not make it out of committee

but has a good chance of passing next year, Seabaugh has said.

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