Suspect Identified in August 8th Vehicle Pursuit turned Manhunt off Trammel Rd
A Phenix City, AL man has been identified as the suspect in the August 8th vehicle pursuit and manhunt
A report provided by the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office has shed more light on the August 8th incident, as well as named the suspect wanted for a litany of crimes.
The suspect, Marcus Watkins, 29, of Phenix City, AL is wanted for crimes across Georgia and Alabama.
It all started just after 2:30 PM on August 8th, when a GSP Trooper attempted to stop a white Audi heading south on Interstate 85. The Audi would take the Grantville exit 35, where he the Trooper would lose visual and terminate the pursuit. While units would search the area for a short time, the suspect was able to duck them all.
According to the CCSO report around an hour later, at just before 3:30 PM, E911 received a call from a resident off Cureton Lane in reference to a black male, later identified as Marcus Watkins, wearing a black t-shit and carrying a bag, sitting in a white Audi in front of their house.
The resident was able to give dispatch the tag information from the vehicle as it was backed into their driveway. This and the speed at which the Audi had entered the neighborhood had drawn the residents attention.
Deputies in the in the area heard the dispatch for a suspicious vehicle or activity, and the tag information, recognizing it as the same tag given by GSP during the vehicle pursuit.
According to the resident and the Deputies, Watkins would leave the vehicle and go behind their house with a bag before returning and moving his vehicle out of the driveway and parking on the curb, where he sat for around half an hour.
At that time the report says another white passenger car arrived on scene, which was an uber that Watkins had called while sitting in the Audi. Watkins would be seen entering the rear passenger side door of the vehicle.
Deputies arrived on scene, where they approached the Audi. Finding it empty the deputies approached the Uber at which time Watkins exited the vehicle and started running, in fact running out of his shoes. AK K9 was deployed, a perimeter was set up, but Deputies were ultimately unsuccessful in locating Watkins.
Deputies were able to confirm Watkins’ identity, which lead them quickly to a Facebook Live video that the suspect was broadcasting while fleeing in the woods. The report states that during the Facebook Live video Watkins can be heard saying ” Shout out my live, I’m running from “the four”, they might kill me”. Watkins’ Facebook account name is ” Marcus Flightrisk, ” he’s since made his account private.
In his haste, Watkins left a green handbag in the back of the Uber, inside of which was over a Ziplock bag containing nearly 2 lbs of Cocaine, a Glock 23, a 1911 style handgun, various ammunition and magazines for the aforementioned hand guns, and a receipt from Best Western bearing his name and address.
According to Watkins’ criminal history, he was convicted in September 2014 for Felony Theft by conversion. He also has warrants out of Alabama for failure to appear on a charge of Trafficking Meth as well as Theft by Receiving Stolen Property. He also has a warrant out of Maryland for failure to appear on “dangerous drug” charges.
CCSO Deputies swore out warrants charging Watkins with Trafficking Cocaine, Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of Certain Crimes, Felon in possession of a Firearm, and Obstruction. It’s believed further warrants have been sworn out against Watkins by the GSP Trooper for charges resulting from the vehicle pursuit.
As of the writing of this article, Marcus Watkins remains on the run.
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