According to a Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office incident report, On Thursday, September 21st, 2023, at 8:02 PM, Deputy Kuzma was sitting on Wooten Road at Rock Bridge Drive running stationary radar when he observed a 2020 Gray Chevrolet Trax going 44 mph in a posted 30 mph zone. According to the report, The driver, identified as Michael Brandon Ledbetter, 30, of Rossville, passed Deputy Kuzma, and Deputy Kuzma turned around and tried to catch up to the vehicle. Ledbetter turned onto Meadow Green Drive and increased his speed; at this point, Deputy Kuzma had already activated his emergency lights, and Ledbetter kept speeding up, trying to get away from Deputy Kuzma. Ledbetter turned onto Spring Hill Drive and was still increasing his speed. At this point, Deputy Kuzma activated his siren and advised dispatch that he had a vehicle taking off on him and needed another unit to start his way. Ledbetter stopped in a Sharpe curve, and Deputy Kuzma got out of his vehicle with his agency-issued sidearm drawn on the vehicle. Deputy Kuzma performed a high-risk felony stop on Ledbetter’s vehicle due to him trying to evade him and did not know why at the time.” Ledbetter was then taken into custody. While Deputy Kuzma was helping Ledbetter up, he said, “I got scared that you were going to pull me over”. Deputy Kuzma asked Ledbetter if that was the reason why he ran, and he said that he did not run, but he tried to evade because he did not want a ticket for no insurance. While en route to the Catoosa County Jail, Ledbetter made a comment saying that he “wasn’t trying to run run, he was trying to run and hoping that Deputy Kuzma would not see him” and trying not to get a ticket. Ledbetter was booked and charged with fleeing, speeding, no insurance, and operating a vehicle with suspended registration.
Rossville man arrested after attempting to evade deputy to avoid ticket in Catoosa County
