Tyrone police chase: 3 men jailed after multi-county pursuit

TYRONE, Ga. - A high-speed pursuit through Fayette and Coweta counties ended with three men behind bars after they allegedly fled from a suspicious tag check during rush-hour traffic last Friday. Peachtree City police, along with county deputies, tracked the suspect vehicle as it wove through gridlock and passed cars in a construction zone before being stopped by a PIT maneuver. 

Multi-county police chase

What we know:

The dangerous chain of events began around 4 p.m. last Friday in Peachtree City. A police officer noticed a suspicious drive-out tag on a Nissan Altima and turned around to investigate. Before the officer could even activate his emergency blue lights, the Nissan sped away, jumping directly into an active construction zone to bypass standstill traffic. 

Peachtree City police reported that the driver, later identified as 39-year-old Ryemeice Johnson of College Park, ran multiple red lights and wove aggressively through traffic at high speeds. At one point, Johnson crossed a double yellow line to pass vehicles on a two-lane road. 

The pursuit crossed county lines as Coweta County deputies chased the vehicle through their jurisdiction before it doubled back into Fayette County. Fayette County deputies joined the active pursuit and deployed a PIT maneuver on State Road 74 in Tyrone, successfully stopping the vehicle and ending the chase. 

Evidence of fraud

What we don't know:

While police found significant evidence inside the vehicle, officials have not yet confirmed the origin of the recovered documents or how many victims may be impacted by the alleged identity theft ring. Investigators have also not released the exact speeds reached during the pursuit or specified which out-of-state jurisdictions hold the active warrants for the suspects.

Fayette County arrests

By the numbers:

• 3: The number of suspects taken into custody and held without bond at the Fayette County Jail. 
• 39: The age of the driver, Ryemeice Johnson, and passenger Jonathan Alexander of East Point. 
• 35: The age of the third passenger, Matthew Sullivan of Raleigh, North Carolina. 
• 1: The number of bags recovered by police that was filled completely with fake IDs and credit cards. 

What's next:

All three men are charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine. Sullivan faces additional numerous counts of identity fraud, financial identity fraud, and financial transaction card fraud. Authorities noted that two of the three occupants had outstanding warrants from multiple jurisdictions, and one is currently waiting to be extradited to an out-of-state agency. 

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