An Eatonton woman was among those recently indicted by a Jones County Grand Jury and faces charges of drug possession with the intent to distribute and fleeing from law enforcement officers.
Leigh Anne Johnson, 53, was indicted Oct. 1 for felony fleeing or attempting to elude police officer and possession methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
Johnson was arrested for the offenses Aug. 28.
A report of the arrest by Jones County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Langston stated he was on Gray Highway at Graham Road when a Chevy Cruze alerted on a Flock camera for an expired registration.
The deputy said he pulled off the road and waited for the vehicle. He said he pulled behind the car and waited for a safe place to perform a traffic stop. Langston said he activated his lights as they approached Creekside Drive, and the driver of the Chevy turned on the turn signal.
However, instead of pulling into Creekside Drive and stopping, the officer said the driver made a U-turn and went back on the highway, running through the stop sign. The vehicle then headed south on Gray Highway.
Langston said he activated his lights and siren and pursued with speeds reaching 129 mph approaching Sand Creek Trial. He said the high speeds continued, but he was able to get along side to see that the driver was a white female with dark hair. The deputy said the driver appeared to be yelling and pulling her hair.
Langston said he was able to pass the vehicle and was able to slow it down from 90 mph to 50 mph. He said the vehicle attempted to pass him several times, even running off the road just north of Old Gray Highway.
The deputy said, when the driver made a U-turn in front of Northside Baptist Church, he cancelled the pursuit and turned off his lights and siren.
Langston said, as he made a U-turn back to Jones County, he noticed a vehicle turn into the driveway of a nearby church. He entered the driveway and realized it was the same vehicle he had been pursuing.
The deputy said he drove around the church and saw the Chevy parked under the carport. The driver was running away from the car, and he saw her throw a bag over the fence, into a ditch.
Langston said, when he pulled up next to her, the driver laid down on the ground. At that point he was able to put her in wrist restraints. The deputy cleared the suspect for contraband and placed her in the backseat of his patrol car.
After the driver was secured, he retrieved the bag from the ditch.
Langston said the bag contained a pipe, four bags filled with a white crystal substance, and a black plastic cylinder containing suspected marijuana.
The driver was transported to the Jones County Law Enforcement Center by JCSO Deputy John Humphries. Langston retrieved the driver’s purse that contained her driver’s license, identifying her as Johnson.
