Eyewitness: Truck theft suspect begged officers to shoot him

Habersham County Sheriff’s Office units stand by with the recovered stolen truck after the driver missed Rudeseal Road and ran into a ditch.Photo byHabersham County Sheriff's Office

A suspect arrested for stealing a truck pleaded with officers to shoot him as he was being taken into custody, an eyewitness to the arrest says.

Officers arrested 30-year-old Quinton Lee Batson near the home of Tracey Giles on Rudeseal Road in Mt. Airy on Monday afternoon, April 1.

Deputy spots truck in Clarkesville

Earlier in the day, the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office issued a lookout for a green 1997 Ford Ranger that had been stolen from a home in Demorest on Easter Sunday. A deputy spotted the stolen pickup on GA 197 South near the Dollar General Store outside of Clarkesville and followed it through town, waiting for other deputies to arrive to assist him.

According to the pursuing officer, the truck driver, later identified as Batson, was driving recklessly. After he passed another vehicle in a no passing zone on Double Bridge Road, the deputy attempted a traffic but says the driver failed to yield.

Photo byRob Moore/Habersham County

Another deputy joined in the case which continued for several more miles until the fleeing driver ran into a ditch. Officials say he then fled on foot and ran through the woods to Giles’ backyard.

Giles ‘scared at first’

“A female police officer saw him and called out several times for him to get on the ground. He didn’t and kept yelling at her to just shoot him. He was saying both his parents are dead and he has nothing left to live for,” Giles says, recounting how the incident unfolded.

The deputy used a Taser on Batson. Giles says, “He hit the ground and kept yelling at them to just kill him.”

She says Batson “thrashed around for a few minutes” after he was tased.

“I was scared at first because I didn’t really know what was going on. The officers had it under control in no time, though,” Giles tells Now Habersham.

Tracey Giles shot this photo of deputies arresting Quention Batson in her backyard on Monday, April 1, 2024.Photo byTracy Giles

Deputies called in an ambulance for Batson for a medical evaluation. Afterward, they took him to the Habersham County Detention Center for booking.

Batson faces numerous charges

Sheriff’s investigators charged Batson with theft by taking a motor vehicle and theft by taking. The second charge is for the theft of two gas cans that were taken from properties near Cornelia just before noon on Monday. Deputies found the cans in the back of the truck after the chase and returned them to the owner, says sheriff's office spokesperson Rob Moore.

Batson was also charged with felony fleeing and possession of a controlled substance, driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving on a suspended license, and numerous other traffic violations.

Images released by the sheriff's office show a man, believed to be Quenton Batson, stealing gas cans from a home near Cornelia, GA.Photo byHabersham County Sheriff's Office/Facebook

Moore says the patrol vehicles did not make contact with the truck during the pursuit. Investigators took the pickup truck to the sheriff’s office in Clarkesville for processing.

“We appreciate the public’s help spreading our lookout on social media and the media’s help with that as well,” says Sheriff Joey Terrell.