Man speeds from checkpoint when confronted by Coweta County deputies

COWETA COUNTY, GA. - A 21-year-old Fairburn man is under arrest and facing serious felony charges in Coweta County. This after his encounter with deputies at a roadblock this past weekend.

Coweta County deputies at this point in the body cam video have asked Cameron Gray repeatedly to step out of his car at a safety check on Hammock Road last Friday morning. That’s because they say they could smell marijuana coming from his open window.

Gray told deputies on the video that he had just gotten off work and was heading home. Marijuana is an automatic probable cause to search a vehicle in Georgia. Deputies say they would later find a stolen handgun, gloves and ski mask in Gray’s car.

Deputies made good on their threat to smash his window and arrest Gray. That would lead to much bigger problems for the young man as deputies say the video shows. With the deputies’ arms inside Gray’s car reaching for the keys, the video appears to show him slamming the car in reverse. The deputies say they were almost run down in his attempted getaway.

Gray’s car sped away at over 90 mph, deputies say. His encounter with law enforcement would end with a PIT maneuver and his car rolling over into a ditch.

Gray was taken into custody. Deputies say what might have been a misdemeanor marijuana charge turned into a long list of felonies. Two counts of aggravated assault on an officer, two counts of battery on an officer, obstruction of an officer, theft by receiving stolen property, possession of pot and drug related object. Now for the traffic charges, felony fleeing and attempting to elude, reckless driving, failure to yield to emergency vehicle, no headlights, improper backing, failure to maintain lane and obedience to traffic control device.

Deputies say they perform these safety checks typically to make sure drivers have their licenses and are not impaired.