ALTO — An Alto man is jailed in Habersham County after fleeing on foot from a traffic stop and allegedly assaulting a police officer in Alto Thursday night.
Dylan Gage Shope is charged so far with theft by taking motor vehicle, driving under the influence, two counts of obstruction of an officer, simple battery, improper backing, and failure to maintain lane, according to Habersham County Detention Center records.
“I conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for suspicion of DUI,” Alto Police Chief Josh Ivey told AccessWDUN. “During the course of that stop, the suspect assaulted Sgt. Wigner and fled on foot.”
That led to a lengthy manhunt in and around Alto.
“With the assistance of Baldwin, Cornelia, Habersham County and Department of Corrections K-9, we took him into custody after about two and a half hours looking for him,” Ivey said.
Ivey said Shope is facing “numerous traffic charges and then the assault on Sgt. Wigner. It’ll be felony.”
Wigner suffered undetermined injuries, but will recover, Ivey said.
