By Joe Johnson
Two suspects were arrested last week following a high-speed chase that ended when their car crashed and overturned.
The incident happened just before 2 a.m. Thursday, when a police officer on crime suppression patrol in an area of recent vehicle break-ins spotted a male and female in an SUV acting suspiciously in a parking lot at The Standard apartment complex on North Thomas Street.
When the officer went to investigate, police said, the male ran away while the female who remained in the vehicle claimed that she was an Uber driver and the male had been her passenger.
The male was later identified as 19-year-old Cameron Isaiah Cannon of Oak Bluff Drive, and the female was identified as 24-year-old Brityonnia Kenijah Cooper of East Meadow Drive. She was allowed to go on her way because at the time there was no probable cause to arrest her for any crime.
A short time later, a security guard at a different apartment complex told police that she had observed Cannon getting into a Nissan Sentra, which was subsequently seen in the area of Dudley Park. Police said that when officers stopped the car they found that the driver was Cooper and Cannon was a passenger.
Cannon reportedly then jumped out of the vehicle, and as officers ran after him, Cooper “erratically”drove the car while maneuvering it to where Cannon could get back in, nearly hitting an officer in the process.
She then raced away eastbound on Oconee Street and as she continued on Lexington Road, police said, the Nissan reached an estimated speed of 90 mph while driving through red lights and stop signs before it crashed into a culvert near Johnson Drive and overturned.
Cannon and Cooper were ordered out of the car at gunpoint, and they were transported under police guard to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries prior to being taken to jail.
Cooper was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, reckless conduct, reckless driving, felony obstruction, felony fleeing and eluding law enforcement, and numerous traffic law violations.
A judge declined to grant her bail.
Cannon was charged with loitering or prowling and obstruction. Authorities in Walton County placed a hold on his release from custody due to outstanding warrants for armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon .