Pursuit through Southeast Georgia ends in St. Marys following series of PIT maneuvers

ST. MARYS, Ga. – Investigators said a pursuit through Southeast Georgia that involved multiple law enforcement agencies started when police in Kingsland, Georgia, got a phone call from a man in South Carolina, who said his truck was stolen.

Police said the man told them his son took the truck without his permission and that he got a ping on its location in Kingsland. Police showed up at a Pilot gas station where the truck was located, as was the suspect, identified as Tamija Swinton, 24.

Officers who arrived at the gas station asked Swinton to come outside.

“Your father said you didn’t have permission to take his vehicle. Did you know you didn’t have permission to take the vehicle?” an officer asks Swinton. He’s seen nodding up and down.

Swinton later told the officer that he was headed to Miami. Then, while he stood next to the truck, the officer called his father to explain that because the vehicle was not officially reported stolen, there was little he could do.

“I can’t arrest your son,” the officer says.

“Can you at least impound the vehicle or something? I need my truck. If he gets that truck, I won’t see it again,” the man on the phone says,

This is when the officer’s dashcam records Swinton getting into the truck and then leading Kingsland police on a chase.

The speed picks up, and moments later, the officer is told to call off the chase because Camden County sheriff’s deputies were going to take over the pursuit.

As deputies enter the chase, the truck is seen weaving along the roadway at a high rate of speed. With each passing second, the chase appears to get more dangerous as the deputy attempts a PIT maneuver, which fails.

Moments later, another PIT maneuver sends the truck spinning out of control into a grassy area, but the pickup is able to regain control and get back on the road.

Several minutes later, another maneuver sends the truck into bushes, but Swinton still is able to keep the truck running. The chase eventually enters downtown St. Mary’s where another PIT maneuver sends the truck into the side of an ice cream shop.

Swinton was eventually captured and charged with eluding police, which is a felony. As of Thursday night, he remained in the Camden County Jail without bond.


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