ELBERT COUNTY, Ga. — A man is in custody in Elbert County after leading 10 agencies on a chase through several counties.
The events that unfolded Thursday afternoon led to the lockdown of three schools in Elbert County, but started that morning after Joshua Sewell’s mother passed away.
Sewell’s mother died in Madison County on Thursday morning and he “became distraught over the death, which led to the event in Elbert County,” a Madison County spokesman told Channel 2 Action News.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office said they received calls about someone’s death on 5th Street in Colbert but were not investigating the death as a murder.
While investigating, deputies learned that Sewell had left 5th Street “in a rage” before they arrived. At the scene, deputies were informed that he’d left Madison County and had threatened to hurt a woman in Elbert County.
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Madison officers informed Elbert County about Sewell and were told Elbert County Sheriff’s deputies had responded to a road rage incident involving a man and woman, and that shots had been fired during the altercation.
The Elbert County Sheriff’s Office and Elbert County Emergency Services initiated a soft lockdown at the county’s schools during the incident. As a result, they held all school buses until they were given an all-clear from law enforcement, and car riders were dismissed from school at a slower rate than normal.
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As for the road rage incident, the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office said they were dispatched to Jones Ferry Road to respond to a two-vehicle accident, where one driver got out of his vehicle and shot the driver of the other vehicle.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they found a small car in a ditch with significant damage, and the driver had already run from the scene. Witnesses told deputies that they’d seen ”a black SUV with heavy damage was driving down Jones Ferry Road with one wheel turned sideways.”
Elbert County personnel found the vehicle significantly damaged, but empty, in a clearing while searching for the driver of the small car in the ditch.
The driver was eventually found hiding in the woods with her 1-year-old child.
Deputies at the scene “determined that as the victim was driving down Jones Ferry Road, Mr. Sewell had struck her vehicle with his car and ran her vehicle off the roadway. He then approached the driver’s side window with a shotgun and busted the window out while threatening to harm her.”
Deputies said that Sewell used the gun to “bust the window” and pointed it at the woman, but never fired.
The woman and her child escaped and hid. Then, after Sewell had run away, the sheriff’s office said they went back to their car.
While searching for both drivers, the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Madison County Sheriff, who said a family member of Sewell had called to warn them he was on his way to Elbert County, possibly to hurt a woman there.
Soon after, dispatch began receiving calls about a shirtless man approaching homes asking for help. Footage from one of the homes confirmed that the man was Sewell.
A Hart County K-9 tracked him down, but when they found him, Sewell began to run away. Deputies chased him across Hwy. 72 onto Sweet City Road, then onto Chris Franklin Drive before going back down Sweet City Road and eventually to a nearby creek. Sewell traveled down the creek back to Hwy. 72 before eventually ending up at a nearby resident’s home.
Deputies found him at the home, and the owner helped them take him into custody after speaking with him as deputies arrived.
Now, Sewell faces the following charges:
- 2 counts aggravated assault
- 2 counts possessing a firearm during commission of a crime
- Misdemeanor pointing or aiming a gun at another person
- Misdemeanor reckless conduct
- Misdemeanor obstruction
- Misdemeanor criminal trespass
- Misdemeanor hit and run
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During the incident, the following agencies and departments assisted with finding Sewell and keeping the county safe:
- Elbert County Sheriff’s Office
- Elbert County Dispatch
- City of Elberton Police Department
- Elbert County School System and Board of Education Police Department
- Georgia State Patrol Command Post 52
- Georgia State Patrol Aviation Unit
- Hart County Sheriff’s Office
- Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office
- Madison County Sheriff’s Office
- Elbert County EMA Drone Team
The Elbert County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains active and further charges against Sewell are possible.
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