By Joe Johnson
A motorcyclist was killed late Thursday afternoon when he engaged Oglethorpe County deputies in a pursuit that crossed county lines and ended with a fatal crash near the Walmart on Lexington Road.
The biker was identified as 36-year-old Brently Allen Tucker of Commerce.
He recently was speeding west on Lexington Road shortly before 6 p.m. when his motorcycle slammed into the side of an eastbound car that was turning onto Woodgrove Drive.
Local police responded to the scene of the crash but did not participate in the pursuit and referred questions to the Georgia State Patrol, which is investigating the incident.
On Friday afternoon the Oglethorpe County Sheriff’s Office posted the following statement on Facebook:
An Oglethorpe County Deputy was involved in a pursuit of a motorcycle yesterday evening around 5:48 pm on Smokey Rd. The individual on the motorcycle initially stopped in the driveway at the corner of Smokey Rd and Athens Rd. The initial reason for the stop was no tag on the motorcycle. Even though this is a traffic offense, it is often a sign that the motorcycle may be stolen, and the person is attempting to conceal the identity of the vehicle. The person on the motorcycle then took off in low to medium traffic. At times when there was no traffic the chase reached speeds of 100 mph. The majority of the chase was between 60-80 mph per hour and as low as 25 mph at one point. Deputies can legally pursue drivers in to other counties under Georgia law. The deputy decided to terminate the chase prior to getting to the area of Walmart on Lexington Rd. The deputy turned off his lights and sirens and began slowing down as he approached Cornerstone Church. The deputy stated it appeared the person being pursued had turned and was watching what he was doing and did not see the car turn in front of him 39 seconds later. Unfortunately, the individual's decisions resulted in him losing his life. Oglethorpe County has recently acquired in car cameras in which the entire chase was recorded.
This was a sad situation that resulted in it effecting himself, his family, friends, community, person that he hit and the deputy that was involved as well. In law enforcement our job is to preserve life and make the community safer. A lot of people have opinions about the situation and none of them have the information of what actually happened to form those opinions. This is never the outcome any law enforcement agency wants from a pursuit. But the sad reality is that sometimes this is the result. Our prayers go out to his family. They are good people and have suffered a great loss. Please remember and support them in this difficult time.
The person's identity is not going to be released by our agency because the accident is being investigated by Georgia State Patrol and it is their prerogative to release that information.
Too bad he didn't break his damn fool neck so he could spend the rest of his life as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair where all he could do is just simply watch Life go by as he sits there and thinks about the recklessness of his life.
That would be better than any prison for a POS like this!
Good work Police.
Out on bond/3 year probation in Madison county. Drugs.