Athens-Clarke County Police Department
Hunter Ty Wilkerson, a 19-year-old student from the University of Georgia, was arrested on Thursday, November 16, after a high-speed chase where he reached speeds up to 110mph.
Wilkerson was arrested early on Thursday while speeding down a 35mph zone in Athens, Georgia. According to local police, Wilkerson was speeding because he stole five traffic signs off the campus at UGA.
He was spotted by Athens-Clarke County police traveling at 90mph in a 35mph zone around 3:30 AM. Epifanio Rodriguez, a police spokesman for the Athens-Clarke County said that “At that point in itself he’s reckless,” and that Wilkerson is “putting lives in danger, to include his own and anyone else who’s on the roadway.”
University police chased Wilkerson for approximately 10 minutes before his vehicle went airborne and crashed, slamming into several cars that were parked in front of the UGA police headquarters.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, when Wilkerson was in handcuffs, another officer found his cellphone in the truck. Wilkerson was still logged in to Snapchat, where police said he’d zoomed in on his speedometer hitting 110 mph. Wilkerson allegedly bragged that he was leading a police chase.
“An officer looks through his phone and sees he was active on social media, Snapchat, and was sending out updates saying that he was in a pursuit with the police officer,” Rodriguez said.
Wilkerson faces 25 charges, including fleeing a police officer, DUI and reckless driving.
