One person is dead and two people were injured after a motorist attempted to flee from a Long County deputy Saturday night during a traffic stop.

According to Georgia State Patrol Trooper Christopher Ashdown, a Long County sheriff’s deputy traveling westbound on Highway 196 clocked a motorist in a Chevy Silverado traveling eastbound doing 92 mph in the area of Joe Kennedy Road shortly after 10 p.m. The deputy turned his cruiser around to attempt a traffic stop.  The pickup driver, identified as Derris Chambless, 38, of Butler, allegedly refused to pull over and continued at a high rate of speed. 

As the truck driver approached the intersection of Marcus Nobles Road and Highway 196, he allegedly struck a motorcyclist, who was traveling with a passenger. The driver of motorcycle, identified as Michael Joseph, 62, of Florida, was pronounced deceased at the scene and his passenger, Lea Berrones, 43, of Brunswick, was seriously injured. The Silverado continued for several feet when Chambless lost control of the vehicle, crashing into a cemetery damaging portions of a fence and several headstones.

Ashdown said Chambless and Berrones were flown to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah where their conditions are unknown.
The Georgia State Patrol’s Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team was called in due to Chambless potentially facing criminal charges.