A North Carolina man is in the Hall County Jail following a series of apparent crimes in the Flowery Branch area Wednesday morning.
Hall County Sheriff's Office spokesman Derreck Booth said deputies were first called to a reported assault on Sherwin Parkway off Atlanta Highway just before 5:45 a.m. As they were headed to that location, they got word that the same man was going through a cash register at a QuikTrip Trip at the corner of Friendship Road and Atlanta Highway.
"Dispatch then got word that he got in an Acura MDX at the QuikTrip and traveled pretty quickly towards the interstate," Booth said. "Someone, possible a citizen, followed the vehicle and then saw it going behind a business on B.U. Bowman Drive, which is between Atlanta Highway and the interstate."
At that point, Hall County deputies arrived in the area and spotted the suspect. Booth said they ordered him to stop, but he drove around the deputies and hit a concrete median on Friendship Road, disabling the vehicle.
By that time, Flowery Branch police officers had arrived to assist Hall County deputies.
"The suspect, 29-year-old Demontae Cortez Lassiter of Durham, North Carolina, would not get out of the SUV when they conducted the felony stop," Booth said.
Booth said Lassiter resisted arrest, but was eventually taken into custody and transported to the Hall County Jail.
For now, Lassiter has been charged with battery, robbery, three counts of obstruction and fleeing to elude.
Booth said the investigation is ongoing, so there are still questions about the initial assault reported to Hall County Dispatch. The victim in that incident did not suffer serious injuries. Booth said they have found no evidence at this point that Lassiter used weapons in any of the alleged crimes.
Booth said he is unsure why Lassiter was in Hall County.
