Report: Man rams police car during a high-speed chase
Brandon Lewis McGlotha also is facing felonies after trying to cash in stolen lottery tickets.
A man accused of trying to cash in lottery tickets stolen from Maple Grocery is facing a slew of felony charges, including assault on a police officer, following a highspeed chase in North Rome.
Brandon Lewis McGlotha, 27, of 317 E. 15th St., was being held in jail without bond Monday night.
Rome Assistant Police Chief Debbie Burnett said the case started with an early Sunday breakin at the 1308 Maple Ave. store in which lottery tickets were stolen from various rolls.
Another man, Lamar Cantrell Hunter, 41, is accused of that crime. He was arrested on a warrant Monday afternoon and charged with felony first-degree burglary and misdemeanor obstruction. He was being held without bond Monday night. McGlotha got some of the lottery tickets from Hunter Sunday afternoon, Burnett said, and he tried to cash them in at a store on North Broad Street.
When he was denied, he moved on to the Hop-NShop on Calhoun Avenue, but they were already alerted.
“When the officer arrived, McGlotha was already in his car,” Burnett said. “Marijuana was visually observed in the car.”
According to reports by Officer Brandon Pledger and Floyd County Jail records:
McGlotha had multiple bags of marijuana packaged for individual sale. While police were gathering information from him and witnesses at the Hop-N-Shop, he suddenly drove off.
During the ensuing chase — mainly along Calhoun and North Broad — McGlotha drove at speeds topping 75 mph. Along the way, he destroyed several bags of narcotics and rammed a patrol car and a stop sign before he abandoned the vehicle and ran.
He was captured on Calhoun Avenue at Reservoir Street in possession of some of the lottery tickets stolen in the burglary.
“Officer Pledger did a great job on his follow-up and I’m very proud of him,” Burnett said.
The officer whose car was struck was not seriously injured and was at work Monday, Burnett said.
McGlotha is facing felony charges of aggravated assault on an officer, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, two counts of fleeing a police officer and a probation violation.
He also is charged with the misdemeanors possession of drug-related objects, tampering with evidence, theft by receiving stolen property and two counts of obstruction of an officer.
A series of misdemeanor traffic offenses also are on McGlotha’s charge sheet: speeding, reckless driving, laying drag, improper lane change, failure to obey traffic control devices, headlight requirement, driving without a license, violation of duty upon striking a fixed object, stop sign violation, hit and run, failure to maintain a lane and two counts of driving too fast for conditions.
According to reports on the burglary, a man with dreadlocks kicked in the door of the store just after 2 a.m., stole the lottery tickets and ran off into the woods. A woman rode up on her bike a few minutes later to shop for snacks in the now-open store and was momentarily accosted by armed police responding to the alarm.