Rome man bolts from Municipal Court, caught on river bank behind building
A man in Rome Municipal Court for a speeding ticket ended up in the river after fleeing from the Law Enforcement Center on Thursday morning.
Wesley Scott Furnish had been given some extra time to pay a $133 ticket when officers came back into the court with an outstanding probation warrant. They put Furnish into handcuffs for a trip to the jail.
He was in a holding room when he managed to get the attention of officers to say he had to go the bathroom. As soon as the handcuffs were removed, Furnish ran, police said.
Officer John Giles said the
Wesley Scott Furnish (center to right of tree) is pulled up an embankment of the Oostanaula River on Thursday morning. man ran out the West First into the Oostanaula River. Street door of the building, Pfc. Nick Jennings with circled around the Sixth Avenue the Rome police was one parking deck and got of several officers who gave onto the trail behind the chase and went down the rivbuilding. At that point he erbank after Furnish. tried to elude police by goThey found him hanging ing down the steep bank and onto a tree that was protruding out over the water.
Jennings said Furnish went down the bank in the area between the parking deck and the law enforcement building.
“I think he had the intention to swim but he changed his mind,” Jennings said. “Once he saw that he was pretty much caught, he gave up.”
When the Rome-floyd County Fire Rescue unit arrived, they attached a buoy to a long rope and several police officers helped hoist the man up the steep embankment.
Furnish was checked out briefly at the scene by emergency medical personnel before he was taken on to the jail. He’s additionally charged with felony escape and two misdemeanor counts of obstruction.