Motorcyclist Leads Deputies on Extended Chase, Runs Bike Into Ditch

A Cornelia motorcyclist was taken into custody without incident after he wrecked a 2010 Harley-Davidson while fleeing from Habersham County Sheriff’s Office deputies early this past Saturday. 

Sgt. C. Carter of the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office was parked on Highway 365 in Baldwin at 2:40am Saturday, Feb. 10, when he observed the motorcycle with a non-functional tag light pass his location. While Carter attempted to catch up with the motorcycle to check for a valid tag, the rider, later identified as 33-year-old Codey Wayne Shoemake, turned onto Alto-Mud Creek Road toward Gainesville Highway. 

Upon passing Smokey Road, the rider accelerated and initiated a pursuit. The motorcycle turned right onto Gainesville Highway toward Hall County at speeds between 80 and 96 mph. A second Habersham County deputy joined the pursuit at Crane Mill Road. The pursuit continued into Hall County on Old Cornelia Highway, traveling more than 12 miles to the intersection of Ga. 52, where the rider was unable to make the turn and traveled down an embankment into a ditch at about 2:50 a.m. 

Shoemake told deputies he ran because he still had possession of an ex-girlfriend’s vehicle and thought there was a warrant for his arrest. 

No Habersham County Sheriff’s Office units contacted the motorcycle or were damaged during the pursuit. Shoemake was transported by a Hall County ambulance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville for evaluation. 

Upon release, Shoemake was booked in at the Habersham County Detention Center on a felony charge of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. He was released on $3,720 bond.