High-Speed Chase Ends in Bartow County

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A wild police chase that started in Gordon County ended in Bartow County Monday afternoon with the arrest of three suspects from Ohio.

The multi-county incident started around 2 p.m. Sept. 28 when a Gordon County sheriff’s deputy initiated a traffic stop along Interstate 75 near Calhoun.

According to Sheriff Mitch Ralston, the occupants inside the vehicle began to act ”suspiciously” when the deputy approached the car. The driver, who Ralston said was “armed with a handgun,” refused to comply with the deputy’s commands to show his hands.

The car, a white 2003 Acura, sped away at a high rate of speed from the scene. The Gordon sheriff’s deputy began his pursuit of the vehicle and was soon joined by other units as the chase continued south into Bartow County.

Once the chase crossed over the county line, Georgia State Patrol troopers joined in the pursuit. During the chase, Ralston said a handgun was thrown from the Acrua near the Adairsville exit.

This handgun, the sheriff said, struck another vehicle, shattering its windshield in the process.

The firearm was eventually recovered by other Gordon County deputies. Ralston also said video evidence revealed that some type of packaged white powder was allegedly thrown out of the Acura, but disintegrated in the heavy rain and traffic.

The high-speed chase continued onto Exit 296/Cass-White Road where Bartow County sheriff’s deputies joined in the pursuit.

State troopers deployed the use of stop sticks, which forced the vehicle to come to a stop on Cass-White Road.

The driver, identified as Virsna Angel Sieng, 38, of Hillard, Ohio, and his two passengers, Timothy Floyd Dean, 33, of Columbus, Ohio, and a female Columbus, Ohio, resident whose name is not being released at this time, were all arrested at the scene.

Sieng was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, felony fleeing and attempting to elude and other traffic charges. Dean is also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Ralston stated Gordon County authorities believe that Sieng was free on bail or bond for a drug-related offense in Ohio at the time of his arrest.

All three are suspects remain at the Gordon County Jail as the investigation continues. In a related twist, the same deputy who conducted the initial traffic stop was looking for evidence in connection to the pursuit along Interstate near the location where the handgun was discarded.

The deputy, who was joined by a state trooper in his hunt, was conducting the task when a vehicle left the roadway and lunged towards the officers.

The state trooper pushed the deputy out of the car’s path while simultaneously diving out of the way. The vehicle was subsequently pulled over and the driver, Eric Garcia, 25, of Ontario, California, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

“All of the officers involved in these events today did a tremendous job in protecting the lives of innocent people on the roadway,” Ralston said on Monday. “In particular, the state trooper who pulled my deputy out of the path of the drunken driver in an extraordinary act placed his own life in jeopardy in doing so. They both quite possibly saved additional lives in removing two dangerous drivers from the roadway.”

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Photo credits: Gordon County Sheriff’s Office