Tuesday, January 2, 2024–10:48 p.m.
-Blake Silvers, Calhoun Times-
A high-speed chase that started in Cartersville Saturday ended in Gordon County.
According to Georgia State Patrol and Gordon County Jail reports:
A Cartersville Police Department officer attempted to make a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by a man suspected of attempting to pass counterfeit $100 bills at a Bartow County business.
The vehicle fled the officer, making its way to Interstate 75 traveling northbound at an “extremely high rate of speed.”
Eventually, the CPD officer lost visual on the vehicle, and troopers from the Georgia State Patrol Post 3 in Cartersville responded and picked up the chase reaching speeds of over 130 miles per hour.
After entering Gordon County, a pursuit immobilization technique (PIT maneuver) was used by a trooper, successfully ending the chase near exit 318. The chase ended without any injuries to officers or the suspect.
As the suspect was being taken into custody, it was discovered that a six-year-old girl had been a passenger in the vehicle. Also unharmed, she was eventually turned over to a family member.
It was also determined by officers on the scene that the driver had been under the influence of drugs at the time of his arrest.
Records indicate that Lyndell Earlee Wafford, 29, of Chicago was arrested by GSP troopers and booked into the Gordon County Jail Saturday afternoon, initially charged with fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
Wafford has since been charged with first-degree cruelty to children, aggressive driving, reckless conduct, reckless driving, speeding, open container, driving under the influence of drugs, child endangerment by DUI, child restraint, following too closely, driving without a license, improper lane change, willful obstruction of law enforcement, failure to use correct signal, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, tire requirements, driver to exercise due care, driving on divided highway, glazing of windows, driving on roadway laned for traffic, and a seat belt violation.