Gas clerk helps capture fugitive

November 6, 2019

Chip Matthews,

FORSYTH, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The second of two suspects is now in custody of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriffs spent Tuesday night and part of Wednesday morning looking for two men involved in a high-speed chase and shooting.

Deputies captured the driver, Eugene Wilson, near Pea Ridge Road and Hwy 41 at 12:30 a.m.

The search for Justin Donley, the second suspect accused of shooting at deputies, ended at 8:20 a.m. A witness said he watched Donley leave a closed gas station on Rumble road and flee toward a nearby BP station.

The witness believes Donley entered through a broken window.

BP gas station clerk, Steve Reece, spoke about the moment he saw Donley.

“He walked up to me with a bottle of Powerade… asked me if I could call a taxi. I said sure no problem with that. I will gladly help you out,” Reece said.

But instead of reaching for a phone, Reece grabbed something else.

“At that time, I reached over for my pistol,” Reece said. “Pulled the pistol out and held it on him and told him to get down on the floor or it’s gonna be a problem.”

According to Reece, Donley ran out of the door.

So what did Reece do?

“I fired a shot in the air over his head,” Reece said. “(He) took off across the parking lot. I kept firing, my buddy across the street saw him coming. He fired a warning shot in the air, which forced him into the woods back here.”

Reece explained that it was only a matter of moments before deputies arrived.

Monroe County Deputies took Donley into custody near the corner of Jenkins and Rumble Road.