According to a Dalton Police Department incident report, January 27th, 2023, at 6:14 AM, Officer Morang was sitting on the sidewalk in my marked patrol car on West Walnut Avenue just west of Lakeshore Drive, observing traffic and using his in-car radar to detect speed. While observing traffic, Officer Morang observed a vehicle driving eastbound well over the posted speed limit at 65 mph in a 40 mph zone. Officer Morang reported, “At this time, it was still dark outside and raining very hard. Traffic was very heavy, so it took me a moment to get off the sidewalk and pull out into the roadway. [I] saw the suspect vehicle as it passed me and noticed that it was a silver Toyota Tacoma. [I] activated my emergency blue lights to alert the oncoming vehicle that [I] was pulling out into traffic. While doing this, [I] also was looking in my side mirror and saw that the Tacoma had not slowed down at all as it’s brake lights never came on. When [I] pulled out onto the roadway, [I] used the center turn lane to pass the traffic between me and the suspect vehicle, still with my emergency blue lights. As [I] went through the curve, [I] saw the taillights of the suspect vehicle as it had turned left onto Walnut Pl.” The officer could see the truck’s tire marks where the driver made a very quick turn cutting off the opposite lane of travel on Walnut Pl. The officer reported that if a vehicle had been at this stop sign or approaching this stop sign, there would have been a head-on crash. The officer observed the vehicle traveling at a very high rate of speed through the residential neighborhood. The vehicle then made a quick turn at a high rate of speed onto Judd Terr. The driver, later identified as Grayson Alan Basset, 22, of Dalton, quickly pulled in front of a residence at 904 Judd Terr and put the vehicle in park. The officer asked Grayson why he was driving so recklessly and why he was attempting to hide from him. Grayson stated that he was not trying to hide, but he was following his GPS and was going a new way to work. Officer Morang reported, “[I] told Grayson that on top of him going 25 mph over the speed limit on walnut ave when he turned into this neighborhood to try and avoid getting a ticket, he was driving with reckless disregard for other motorists and pedestrians.” Grayson was placed under arrest and booked into the Whitfield County Jail, charged with speeding 25 over, reckless driving, and too fast for conditions.
Dalton man arrested after driving recklessly through neighborhood to avoid speeding ticket
