A trooper's attempt to pull over a Dodge pickup truck for tinted windows near GA 105 and J. Warren Road on Friday afternoon turned into a chase that ended with the driver bolting into the woods outside Cornelia, triggering a three-hour, multi-agency manhunt. The Georgia State Patrol says the stop began around 3:03 p.m., and by evening, search teams had called off active tracking without finding the man.
Chase Wound Through Town Before Driver Ran
According to Now Habersham, the pickup accelerated onto the grassy shoulder and passed another car on the right as the trooper tried to initiate the stop. The driver then cut onto Walnut Street and Lakey Lane behind a candle factory before finally stopping at what turned out to be the truck's registered address, where the driver abandoned the vehicle and ran into nearby woods on foot. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the man was also seen fleeing from a location off East Walnut Street near Johnson & Johnson, and was last spotted crossing Chase Road near Sellers Loop.
The Habersham County Sheriff's Office described the suspect, per FOX 5 Atlanta, as roughly 5 feet 5 inches tall and about 160 pounds, with a bald head and tattoos across his neck and upper body. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and no shirt. Officials said the man did not appear to pose an immediate danger but urged residents and motorists not to approach him, asking anyone who spots him to call 911 right away.
Five Agencies Combed Chase Road and Camp Creek Road
Local police departments and the Habersham County Sheriff's Office searched the area around Chase Road, while other law enforcement agencies extended the effort to Camp Creek Road and the Demorest-Mt. Airy Highway corridor, using K-9 units to try to track the man's path. The search drew personnel and resources from the Georgia State Patrol, the Habersham County Sheriff's Office, the Cornelia Police Department, the Baldwin Police Department, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the search notes.
Sheriff's office spokesperson Rob Moore confirmed that the active ground search was called off shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, after nearly three hours without locating the suspect. Neither agency released the man's identity at the time the search was suspended, and authorities had not said what initially prompted troopers to attempt the stop until the tint violation was later confirmed.
Troopers Identify Driver, Eye a Possible Getaway Car
Despite the suspended ground search, state troopers made headway behind the scenes. They later identified the fleeing driver, determined he had been operating the truck on a suspended license, and began securing arrest warrants, according to the same Now Habersham report. Investigators are also looking into whether someone picked him up in a vehicle after he vanished into the woods.
The traffic stop itself was grounded in a routine equipment check. Georgia law, under O.C.G.A. § 40-8-73.1, requires passenger-vehicle window tint to allow at least 32% visible light transmission, and a violation is a misdemeanor carrying fines up to $1,000, according to Justia Law. Fleeing from a marked patrol unit is a separate and more serious matter: under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395, willfully eluding a uniformed officer is a high and aggravated misdemeanor that carries a mandatory fine between $1,000 and $5,000 and at least 30 days in jail for a first offense, per the same statute.
A Familiar Pattern for Habersham County Searches
Habersham County sits within Georgia State Patrol Post 7's territory, headquartered in Toccoa and responsible for trooper coverage across Stephens, Habersham, and Rabun counties, according to the Georgia Department of Public Safety. Cornelia had a 2025 estimated population of 5,459 spread across roughly 4.15 square miles, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
This is not the first time a suspended ground search in Habersham County has ended without an immediate arrest, only for the case to move forward later. Hoodline previously reported that a nine-hour Mud Creek manhunt in March 2026 ended only after a local resident spotted the suspect near Mud Creek Road and called 911, underscoring the role everyday tips play once official K-9 tracks go cold.
