Joshua D. Griffin
Police said a man in a stolen vehicle who sped away from officers in Hixson had drugs and a gun on him.
Joshua D. Griffin wound up facing numerous charges after a police chase.
On Tuesday evening, police observed a black Toyota sedan driving down Hixson Pike. Police said it made “a change in driving behavior and accelerated” once it passed a patrol vehicle. The black sedan turned down Ely Road and then speeded up after police tried to catch up to it.
The vehicle turned onto Norcross Road once an officer caught up with it, and that is when police initiated emergency lights and sirens. The vehicle sped up again and ran the red light on Norcross, and then the vehicle did a u-turn in a parking lot near Ashland Terrace and drove back down Norcross.
Police said the vehicle was driving at speeds higher than 65 miles per hour as the chase occurred. The sedan almost struck a Red Bank police officer’s vehicle on Delashmitt Road.
The vehicle eventually got onto Highway 153, and police said the driver of the vehicle threw a handgun wrapped in a blanket, along with another object wrapped in a blanket, outside of the vehicle near Chickamauga Dam. The sedan crashed into a wall near Highway 58 and police took the driver into custody.
The driver was identified as Griffin, 31, and the vehicle’s VIN showed it was stolen out of Cleveland. Police said they found methamphetamine and oxycodone inside the vehicle. The handgun was recovered and that was also found to be stolen.
Griffin is charged with aggravated assault, evading arrest, reckless driving, speeding, theft of property, reckless endangerment, and other drug and driving-related offenses.