Georgia K9 finds 4 suspects in less than 15 minutes after stolen vehicle chase

BANKS COUNTY, Ga. — Fifteen minutes. Deputies said that’s all it took for K9 Becka to locate four suspects following a stolen vehicle chase.

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Recently Banks County K9 Becka and her partner, Corp. Josh Pressley were called to help find five suspects who ran after a stolen vehicle chase.

The suspects were reportedly last spotted running into an overgrown field toward the interstate. Multiple agencies including Jefferson Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and Georgia State Patrol created a perimeter to prevent escape.

Officials said Pressley used four separate scent kits at the scene to get scent articles from the vehicle.

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The duo began trailing through an open field and found a red shoe lost by one of the suspects. The first suspect was found lying on the ground wearing one red shoe. The second and third suspect was found in the field. The fourth suspect was located five feet away on the edge of the field.

The fifth suspect escaped to the exit ramp and was found near the interstate. The suspect was arrested.

Authorities said the trail to locate the suspects took only 15 minutes from the deployment time.

None of the suspects’ ages and identities were released.

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According to the Banks County Sheriff’s Office, last year Pressley and K9 Becka received the Scent Evidence K9 Master Handler certificate for outstanding K9 Trailing Search Deployments. In the last 18 months, they have completed 20 tracks to locate missing people and criminals.

The duo is ranked third in the nation for K9 finds.

“Whether they are on the trail to reunite a missing person with their loved ones or searching to help locate a suspect, they exhibit the excellence and skills needed to be one of the Top 5 performing K9 Teams in the US among our many agency partners. We congratulate them on this achievement and are confident they will keep up the good work in Banks County,” Paul Coley, CEO of Scent Evidence K9, said.

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