Elberta Police search for gun

ELBERTA, Ala. (WALA) - The police chief of one Baldwin County town said he's never seen anything like it in his 35 years as an officer.

Elberta Police Chief Stan DeVane said a chase started Thursday after 10 p.m. at a check point on County Road 87 near Highway 32, with a convicted felon running a roadblock and driving as fast as 108 mph.

Police officers used golf carts to look along roadways for a gun they said Jonathan Jones may have thrown out the window of his pickup truck.

Police said Jones ran a roadblock, and made it as hard as he could for officers to catch him.

DeVane said,  "He was throwing beer bottles out, wrenches out, anything else he could to divert us from the chase."

But, Chief DeVane said that was only the beginning.

He said, "This is one of the most dangerous chases I've ever been in. This individual was actually targeting oncoming traffic, trying to create a collision so he could get away from us.  And, at speeds over 100 mph, you've got very little room for error."

DeVane said the chase ended after about 12 miles, when Jones drove over spike strips the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office put out.

Chris Jennings owns a business on busy Highway 98 in Elberta, and is happy police made an arrest.

Jennings said, "The local department here has the ability to keep up and make sure guys like that don't get loose, and they don't go down to Florida and get away with it so, we're glad to have them, and we hope they keep up the great work."

Elberta Police didn't find a gun during their search, but said they did find bags used to hold the synthetic drug "spice."

Chief DeVane said police set up the roadblock in the first place because criminals run drugs through area highways.

DeVane said, "They come through Elberta and, if we have a reason to stop them, we're going to stop them. They've got drugs in their car, we're not going to turn them loose. We're going to lock them up and tow their vehicle."　

Police said they also found the remains of a shake and bake meth lab Jones threw out of the truck.

Jones is charged with multiple counts of attempting to assault a police officer, reckless endangerment, and drug possession.