AMERICUS — After a few weeks of investigation into a shooting incident that occurred during a car chase involving the Leslie Police Department, the Smithville Department and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Plez Hardin announced that charges have been filed against an individual.

Aaron Cosby, no age or address given, is charged with reckless conduct and unlawful discharge of a firearm on or near a public roadway after Hardin’s office conducted an investigation into allegations that a shooting occurred during said car chase. Cosby, a private citizen, was not involved in the chase, but was said to be standing nearby at a residence, unloading equipment from a hog hunt, or so was reported in the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office report of the incident.

As reported in a previous edition of the Times-Recorder, during the second week of June, Leslie Police Officer Cecil R. Mathews II was on patrol in the city around West Allen Street, when he noticed two vehicles, a semi-truck and trailer and a blue 1999 Chevrolet Blazer S-10 traveling west around the Howell Street area.

Upon activating his radar, Mathews detected that the Blazer was traveling at 57 mph in a 35-mph zone, and then at 62 mph in a 45-mph zone.

Mathews activated his blue lights to conduct a traffic stop on the Blazer, which failed to yield for the blue lights and sirens, according to the police report.

A traffic chase then began as the Blazer continued west on Ga. Highway 118 toward Lee County, toward Smithville on Ga. Highway 377, and then back on 118.

Law enforcement officers in Smithville and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office were asked for assistance in the chase.

According to Mathews’ report, an officer with the Smithville Police Department and a deputy with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office joined the chase in the city of Smithville.

The Blazer continued traveling, and exited Smithville on Church Street west bound, turning north onto Bonds Trail Road. Sumter Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Hale took over the role of primary in the chase from the Leslie Police Department. The suspect headed onto Della Glass Road, and then turned back onto 308 and proceeded east bound and north bound on Wiggins Road, and finally stopped his vehicle in front of a residence at 376 Wiggins Road, where he left the vehicle on foot. Somewhere between Della Glass Road and Wiggins Road is where the shooting occurred, according to reports. Johnathan McCarty, owner of the Blazer and passenger, identified the driver as Ronald Ware Jr. It was discovered that Ware was wanted on a probation violation warrant.

McCarty told Mathews and Hale that someone shot at them during the pursuit. Evidence of this, noticed by both Hale and Mathews (and on video), was that the rear window of the vehicle was busted out, and as Mathews’ report detailed, a hole appeared to be in the passenger front headrest and through the bottom right side of the front windshield. McCarty stated he called 911 on his cell phone and the call was answered by Lee County 911.

According to the incident report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, filed by Hale, “McCarty was very hysterical, screaming and crying, ‘They are trying to kill me.’ He stated that someone had shot at his vehicle.”

Hale told McCarty that he had not shot at his car. Hale reported that the only “other people I noticed during the chase (other than law enforcement officials, McCarty and Ware), were three men — Aaron Cosby, Ricky Crook and Mark Israel — all who were present at Crook’s residence, unloading equipment from a hog hunting trip.”

As a result of the shooting allegations, Sheriff Pete Smith turned the investigation over to Hardin’s office.

Hardin said during a phone interview Tuesday that, “Cosby was the only one charged in the situation, and no one else named was charged. The charges have been filed with the Sumter County State Court.”

Hardin stated that the charges were misdemeanor charges, as “no one got hurt. We talked with McCarty and his mother, who I believe was the owner of the car, and it was a bad situation, but we’re all real lucky that it wasn’t as serious as it could have been. It is what it is. My department investigated it and so did the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.”

According to Hardin, Cosby, with his attorney William Rambo, would be appearing before Sumter State Court Judge Russ Barnes today, to “plea and resolve the case as quickly as possible.”

Hardin said he would be out of town in court in Macon County with another case, so Assistant District Attorney Bob Reeves would be handling the case in his absence.

For more on the story, see Thursday’s edition of the Times-Recorder and go online at www.americustimesrecorder.com