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'It's a high-stress situation:' Monroe County deputies say car chases common

In the last week, the sheriff's office went on two high speed chases.

FORSYTH, Ga. — Sitting in a parked patrol car isn't usually how you find Monroe County deputy Thomas Haskins. 

Haskins says, "I'd say we do approximately 10 to 20 traffic stops a day issuing citations giving warnings."

He's out on the roads, looking for people breaking any traffic laws, and sometimes they don't go as planned. 

"As soon as I exited my patrol vehicle, the vehicle, it accelerated, spinning its wheels at a high rate of speed," says Haskins. 

The car's speed was 120 miles per hour, to be exact.

The sheriff's office says he tried to stop the car for a traffic violation, but the car sped off. 

Haskins chased the car, which had three people inside, until he lost it near Jackson. It wrecked minutes later, killing two people in another car.

"It takes a very emotional toll on the deputies, myself, as well as other deputies involved," says Haskins.

Haskins says car chases are common when you're on the traffic team, and it gets stressful behind the wheel.

"You have that adrenaline -- we call it an adrenaline dump, so it's a high-stress situation. We're driving at a high rate of speed, we're trying to safely negotiate traffic," says Haskins. 

Under the Monroe sheriff's policy, if a deputy decides that a chase is too dangerous, they should stop immediately.

However, they don't want criminals to get away.

"The person easily could've just committed a murder or armed robbery, or he's running for his life per se, so there's definitely good reason to chase and apprehend those subjects," says Haskins.

So while Haskins patrols Monroe County roadways, he won't let criminals get away easily.

In the last week, the sheriff's office went on two high-speed chases.

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