A 19-year-old Douglas man was arrested on numerous charges after he allegedly swapped the tag on his black Dodge Charger then refused to stop for police. The relatively slow pursuit ended with a PIT maneuver that disabled the Charger and landed the suspect in jail.
On May 18, 2024, at around 1:20 a.m., a Douglas police officer saw a black Dodge Charger that the officer recognized. The officer attempted to read the car’s tag but couldn’t. The car then pulled into Hunter’s Run apartments. The officer drove past the Charger then, according to a report from the Douglas Police Department, the car pulled out behind the officer and began following the patrol car. The report says that the Charger wouldn’t pass the police car.
Finally, the report says, the car turned on to Mitchell Street. Another police officer fell in behind the Charger and ran the tag, which was a temporary tag. The tag came back registered as a police car and was exempt from auto insurance, the report states. The car had pulled into the Circle K on the south end of town. Officers sat across from the store at the old EnMark station and watched the driver, identified as Milton Ates, 19, of Douglas, take the temporary tag off and replace it with the proper valid tag.
When Ates left the store, the officers followed and attempted a traffic stop. The report states that Ates turned south on McDonald Road but wouldn’t stop. Ates wasn’t speeding; he just wouldn’t stop, according to the report. The Charger turned left on Glendale Avenue and there a deputy, who had responded, attempted to PIT the Charger. The first attempt was unsuccessful but a second PIT maneuver worked. The disabled Charger came to a rest and the deputy took Ates, who was unhurt in the incident, into custody.
When officers searched the vehicle, they discovered a gun and 22.2 grams of suspected marijuana. Ates was charged with numerous traffic offenses, including removing or affixing a license plate with intent to conceal and fleeing or attempting to elude police. He was also charged with possession of marijuana (less than an ounce).
Ate was booked into the Coffee County Jail and later released.