Pelham man arrested following high-speed chase
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Brian Scott Griffin
The high-speed chase ended in a crash, wrecking the white Corvette that had eluded officers. Photo courtesy of Coosa County Sheriff’s Office.
By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
A high-speed chase that occurred in late July eventually led to the arrest of the driver last Friday, following his arrest at another agency in south Alabama.
On July 24, Deputy Brown was on routine patrol in the Hanover area when he observed a white Corvette traveling 92 miles per hour and weaving in and out of traffic lanes. Brown turned around and initiated his blue lights.
The Corvette proceeded to take off at a higher rate of speed. As Brown approached County Road 154 he saw the Corvette attempting to elude and turn on County Road 154, where Brown eventually lost sight of it.
Approximately 5 minutes later, Chief Deputy Scott Hammond spotted the vehicle that had been identified. He got behind the Corvette, initiated his blue lights, and another high-speed chase ensued.
Investigator Ward contacted state agents and had them in place north of Hatchet Creek on U.S. Highway 231. As the Corvette came through, the state agents got behind the vehicle and joined the pursuit.
Ward and Sgt. Butch Buttram stopped traffic at the four-way stop at the intersection of Highway 231 and Alabama Highway 22.
Ward then deployed spike strips across the highway by the four-way stop, but the strips only covered the inside lane. As Travis stepped out to kick the spike strip into the other lane, the driver swerved toward him.
Travis managed to jump out of the way to avoid impact, and the Corvette was successfully spiked. However, because of the car’s high-performance tires, the chase continued at 140 mph for several miles.
The pursuit continued south on Highway 231 to County Road 8, where it ended when the Corvette hit a vehicle occupied by two individuals, causing their vehicle to flip upside down.
At that point, the Corvette’s driver was taken into custody. The driver and passenger of the vehicle that was struck were extracted and transported to an area hospital for treatment.
Coosa 22, Kellyton EMS, Richville Volunteer Fire Department, and Hanover Volunteer Fire Department all responded to the scene and provided assistance.
During the inventory of the Corvette, an undisclosed large sum of money was recovered.
The Corvette’s driver, 46-year-old Brian Scott Griffin of Pelham, was transported to Russell Medical, where he was then airlifted to UAB. While hospitalized, Griffin was not in police custody.
He later left UAB and went to his residence in Pelham, where he got his pickup truck. Griffin then left in his truck and drove to Summerdale in south Alabama.
From there he went to a hospital in Foley, but also eventually walked out of that hospital, as well.
According to reports, after leaving the hospital in Foley, he stole a woman’s mobile phone and went on to steal a bottle of liquor from a store. He was drinking it when law enforcement officers arrived and arrested him there.
Investigator Ward contacted the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office’s warrant division to notify them of the incident in Coosa County.
After being charged and held in Baldwin County on the theft charges, Griffin was later released, and on August 29 he was picked up from Baldwin County.
Griffin was then transported to the Coosa County Jail in Rockford where he was charged with driving under the influence, attempting to elude a police officer while causing serious injury, two counts of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, failure to have an ignition interlock device, speeding, improper lane usage, failure to stop at a stop sign, and driving on the wrong side of the road.
The ignition interlock device charge stems from a prior DUI conviction, resulting in Griffin needing a mandatory ignition interlock device, or IID. The IID is installed on vehicles to prohibit individuals from operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
As used in Section 32-5A-191 of the Code of Alabama, the term “ignition interlock device” means “a constant monitoring device that prevents a motor vehicle from being started at any time without first determining the equivalent blood alcohol level of the operator through the taking of a breath sample for testing.”
Griffin’s total bond for all 11 charges was set at $46,400. As of press time he remained in custody at the Coosa County Jail awaiting trial.
