The subject of a manhunt is now in custody, according to Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Chief Investigator Josh Summerford 29 year old Justin Wayne Wessels was arrested at a residence on Alabama Street in Centre just before 2:00 Tuesday afternoon in connection to an assault/kidnapping incident occurring prior to noon Monday in Subligna Community of Chattooga County in northwest Georgia.
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The Chattooga County, Georgia Sheriff’s Office is investigating a robbery/kidnapping case that occurred on East Armuchee Road near Subligna on Monday.
The incident involved two suspects who are said to have forced their way into a home and robbed a couple, forcibly taking a woman with them as they left. The man, who was tied up, managed to get free and went to a nearby residence and called the Sheriff’s Office.
The vehicle the suspects fled in was soon spotted here in Cherokee County near Blackwell’s Crossroads between Centre and Cedar Bluff when the driver fled onto County Road 63 with one white male suspect fleeing on foot.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, Centre Police and Cedar Bluff Police Chief Steve Walden stopped the driver of the vehicle before he jumped out of the truck and ran on foot behind a residence on County Road 63, and fled into the lake. One suspect, 24 year old Jody Dillon Padgett from Lafayette, Georgia has been taken into custody while the other remains at large.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Chief Investigator Josh Summerford said Padgett has been charged here with Promoting Prison Contraband 2nd Degree and has thus far been charged in Georgia with Aggravated Assault. Summerford also informed WEIS Radio that guns were found in the suspects’ vehicle, and even though there’s no way of knowing if that remaining at-large suspect is currently armed, he is to be considered dangerous.
The Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a robbery/kidnapping case that occurred in Chattooga County near the Walker County line on Monday. The vehicle involved was spotted in Cherokee County near Blackwell’s Crossroads this afternoon between Centre and Cedar Bluff when the driver fled onto County Road 63 with one white male suspect fleeing on foot.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputies, Centre and Cedar Bluff Police Chief Steve Walden stopped the driver of the vehicle before he jumped out of the truck and fled on foot behind a residence on County Road 63 and fled into the lake. Leesburg Police Chief Brent Grimes also assisted.
This is a developing story and we will have additional information as soon as is it is available.
From WEIS Radio
