A Newnan man who refused to

stop for a Peachtree City police officer Wednesday afternoon was caught

when officers used "stop sticks" to disable his truck, police

said.

Officers estimated Darrell

M. Colton, 28, fled at 50 miles per hour through the school zone in front

of Booth Middle School minutes before school let out for the day, said

Police Chief James Murray.

At the intersection of Peachtree

Parkway and McIntosh Trail, an officer used the stop sticks to deflate

the right side tires of the vehicle, Murray said. The vehicle came to

a quick stop because it was loaded down in the back with concrete, Murray

said.

The driver later told officers

he wasn't going to stop because he had a suspended driver's

license.

The chief said the situation

was "perfect" for the use of the stop sticks. Officers had blocked

traffic on Peachtree Parkway "so we only had him in front of us,"

and the sticks were used in a good area of the road, he added.

"It was obvious he wasn't

going to stop," Murray said, complimenting the officers and supervisors

who made the situation end quickly. "We had a real controlled environment

to use them (the stop sticks). They're made to stop things before

they get started."

All of the city's patrol

cars have stop sticks for such occasions, Murray noted.

"We wanted to stop him

before he got to the Braelinn shopping center and all the traffic they

have there," Murray said.

Colton was charged with driving

with a suspended license, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer,

reckless driving in a school zone, driving with defective equipment, improper

lane change, failure to obey a person directing traffic and speeding.

Colton has a history of "major"

felonies on his rap sheet, Murray said.

Two passengers in the car,

Eugene Carter, 52, of Newnan and Michael Anthony Reese, 43, of Newnan,

were arrested for possession of an open container of alcohol.

The pursuit began when an officer

spotted Colton's vehicle on Flat Creek Road and noticed it appeared

to have no working brake lights, Murray said. The officer had to turn

around and catch the truck, which was going in the other direction and

turned onto Ga. Highway 54, driving an estimated 70 mph, the chief said.

After pulling behind the vehicle,

Colton waved his left arm out the window indicating he was going to pull

off the roadway, but instead he cut off another vehicle and proceeded

south through the Booth school zone before the truck was halted by the

stop sticks, Murray said.