MATHEW HENRY WOODS
A 23-year-old Altha man was arrested for reckless driving after a deputy clocked him traveling 93 mph on SR 71 as he took the curve in front of Rivertown Church.
Sgt. Scotty Norris of the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office was southbound on SR 71 when he saw a northbound car speeding toward him around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 10.
Once the car passed him, Norris made a quick U-turn in pursuit of the vehicle.
As he came out of the S curve past the church, he lost sight of the suspect.
He continued along SR 71 and turned north onto a road when he noticed dust still hanging in the air, indicating a vehicle had just turned at a high rate of speed.
Norris continued down the road into Cochran’s Trailer Park, when the driver left another cloud of dust at the intersection of Hayes Subdivision Road and Jim Durham Road.
As he went down Jim Durham Road, the dust had settled but he noticed the strong odor of gas fumes, indicating that a vehicle had just rapidly accelerated.
When he arrived at the intersection of Jim Durham Road and John G. Bryant Road, he spotted the car speeding eastbound.
He closed in on the car at the intersection of John G. Bryant Road and SR 69N. The driver, Mathew H. Woods, then pulled off the road, turned on to Bay Street and stopped.
When asked to explain his actions, Woods said he had been having maintenance issues with the car and “the accelerator was stuck wide open.”