Man who followed teenage girl home from job arrested for DUI, deputies say
Volodymyr Ionashku (Jackson County Sheriff’s Office)
BRASELTON, Ga. - A 24-year-old man was arrested on DUI charges after Jackson County Sheriff's deputies say he followed a teenager home on Thursday night.
Volodymyr Ionashku, of Hoschton, was charged with DUI, driving while unlicensed, and failure to maintain lanes.
Deputies say it started shortly after 10:20 p.m., when the teen left her job along Highway 53. Just after turning onto Highway 124 in Braselton, she noticed she was being followed extremely closely.
"She would speed up and the vehicle would speed up and then the person in the vehicle turned on the flashers, continuing to follow her and pulling beside her also," the sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page. "Then the vehicle passed her and pulled in front of her, brake checking her."
The teen called her father who continued to talk to his daughter as her mother called 911, deputies say.
The car continued to follow the teenage girl into her neighborhood, deputies say. That is where Ionashku was confronted with her father and Jackson County deputies and eventually arrested.
The sheriff’s office praised the teen for her actions and asked other parents to use this incident as a cautionary tale.
"Please talk to your teenagers and advise them to be mindful of their surroundings at all times, even as they are driving, especially at night," the sheriff’s office wrote. "This victim did exactly as she should have in calling her father and then the mother calling 911 to have deputies respond."
Deputies say more charges against Ionashku are possible as their investigation continues.