A Fitzgerald man was arrested and charged with over 20 offenses after he allegedly fled law enforcement while holding his girlfriend and her child in the vehicle against her will, according to a report from the Douglas Police Department. Once the incident was over, officers also discovered that the suspect, identified as Lamar Montreal, 36, was also wanted by the Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office on several serious charges, including aggravated assault and alleged illegal drug charges.
The incident occurred around 8:30 a.m. on March 8, 2026. Officers responded to a call from a female victim who was in a black Honda car with her child. The two were being held against their will by Montreal, the report says. The report also states that Montreal was physically abusing the victim in the vehicle. When the incident ended, the victim had visible injuries consistent with being beaten, according to the report.
Initially, a Douglas police officer stopped the Honda near East Walker Street and the West Green Highway. The officer had Montreal at gunpoint. However, before other units could arrive, Montreal fled the scene, heading west on East Walker Street. Multiple units joined the pursuit, which approached speeds of 60 mph.
The report says that Montreal traveled through the city and eventually ended up heading east on Bryan Street. Montreal slowed to a very low rate of speed as if he was getting ready to jump out and run. The Honda began traveling off the road and into a ditch. As the vehicle stopped, officers positioned their cars around the Honda to prevent Montreal from leaving the scene, either in the car or on foot.
The victim handed her child to an officer through the window. Another officer helped the victim out of the car, also by going through a window. The report says that Montreal was trying to climb out of the driver’s seat and into the backseat. As officers told him to show them his hands, he stuck his hands out of a window as well. Officers grabbed his arms and pulled him out of the Honda through a window, bringing the pursuit to an end. The victim was bleeding from her lip and her child was shaking but was otherwise unhurt.
Montreal was charged with over 20 offenses, most of them traffic violations, as a result of the incident. The most serious charges were kidnapping (two counts), false imprisonment (two counts), battery, cruelty to children – 2nd degree, and fleeing/attempting to elude law enforcement. Montreal was also wanted by the Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office for aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and other illegal drug charges. Montreal’s driver’s license had been suspended since 2021 for failure to appear in court.
Montreal was transported to the Coffee County Jail. Family members picked up the victim and her child. The Honda, which belonged to the victim, was towed from the scene by a local towing company.
Montreal remains incarcerated in the Coffee County Jail.
