From STAFF REPORTS
CORDELE — Joint effort by local law enforcement agencies led to a mid-afternoon apprehension Tuesday of the man Dougherty County authorities say had held up an Albany bank minutes earlier.
Cordele Police and Crisp County Sheriff’s Department officers along with Georgia State Patrol troopers all participated in the pursuit and ultimate arrest of Neuman Daniels, 45, of a DeKalb County address.
The lone suspect in the hold-up, Daniels is accused of entering an Albany Security Bank and Trust branch, leaving the building and upon re-entering the bank handing the teller a note asking for money. None of the four employees or a lone customer inside at the time was injured.
An Albany police department spokesman said the offender neither displayed nor made a reference to a gun before fleeing the scene with an undetermined amount of money.
During his flight in a gold-colored Chevrolet Tahoe, Daniels was initially spotted by a Worth County deputy who activated the blue lights on his patrol unit when CCSD Colonel Billy Hancock joined in the pursuit.
A Warwick Police Department officer also assisted in the chase during which an unsuccessful attempt was made to stop the vehicle inside Warwick.
Hancock radioed two county units standing nearby that they were headed into Crisp County at approximately 70 mph where deputies Ben Bray and Kenny Purvis joined in the pursuit.
Other units were set up at Raines Station Road where stop sticks were deployed without success as the chase continued north on Ga. 300 where at its intersection with the 300 connector units attempted to prevent the suspect from entering the Cordele city limits.
The suspect went around those units by traveling off the roadway and headed into Cordele where Deputy Mike Mitchell also attempted to deploy stop sticks that the driver avoided by running into a field.
Not long after that, Cordele Police Department Patrolman Kristan Herrick became involved in the chase and upon seeing the vehicle approach his location at 21st Avenue and Seventh Street deployed spike strips that the vehicle again went around.
Several attempts to block in the suspect were made by the officers in pursuit before Herrick and GSP Sgt. Jim Jolly were successful at 19th Avenue and 15th Street where the driver jumped from the vehicle and fled on foot. In doing so, the driver left the SUV in drive and before it came to a stop it struck the units driven by Herrick and Jolly.
Herrick chased the subject on foot for a distance before the alleged offender tripped and fell. When he tried to get up and run again, Herrick said he deployed his Taser and made contact with Daniels who immediately fell to the ground where Deputy Purvis assisted Herrick in handcuffing him.
Once in custody, CCSD Captain Al Smith joined Hancock in a pat-down search that resulted in the recovery of currency and a check from the subject’s left front pocket. Initially transported to the Crisp County Law Enforcement Center, Daniels was later released to Albany authorities.
A Dougherty County Jail spokesman said Daniels is being held there on a robbery by intimidation charge. Crisp County Sheriff Donnie Haralson said charges are pending against him locally as well.
