They just had to do it in Fayette County. The insistence of two Riverdale men that the sale of 20 pounds of marijuana Thursday be done in Fayetteville rather than Pike County went completely south.

One of the men fled the Pavilion after the deal and crashed his vehicle minutes later into a telephone pole, clipping it in half and causing a fire that could have taken his life had he not been pulled from the burning car by two Fayette drug agents.

Charges of trafficking in marijuana are pending against Damon Baker, 24, and Chezzy Williams, 23, according to Fayette Drug Task Force (DTF) Capt. Mike Pruitt. Additional charges are pending against Baker related to his fleeing the scene and the resulting crash, Pruitt added.

The drug deal was initiated by Pike County drug agents, who had attempted to have the transaction done in their county, said DTF Lt. Jody Thomas. But Williams refused, insisting that the deal go down at the Pavilion in Fayetteville, Thomas said.

Fayette DTF agents met the men at the location Williams specified, in the parking lot of the Fayetteville police and fire precinct. Baker fled in his vehicle once the the transaction was made, smashing minutes later through a telephone pole on White Road.

The vehicle overturned and caught fire, Thomas said. Baker, a paraplegic, was pulled from the burning car by two DTF agents.