Joshua Joseph

Name:
Joseph, Joshua

Date of Booking:
09/25/2025

Reason(s) For Booking:
TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE VIOLATION

RECKLESS DRIVING

OPERATING W/SUSPENDED LIC – MISD

OBSTRUCTION OFFICER – MISD

HIT AND RUN RESULTING IN SERIOUS INJURY

EXCESSIVE TINT ON WINDOWS

ATTEMPTING TO ELUDE POLICE – FELONY

NO SEAT BELT

INVALID/SUSPENDED REGISTRATION

Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]

[NARRATIVE #1 on September 24, 2025]

On Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at approximately 11:30 hours, I was patrolling northbound on Riverstone Parkway approaching I-575 South when I observed a grey Infiniti G35 in front of me with windows that appeared to be too dark. The Infiniti was bearing a Georgia tag [REDACTED]. I activated the emergency lights and siren on my agency issued motorcycle.

The Infiniti turned into the Quik Trip gas station located at 1490 Riverstone Parkway. The Infiniti continued to travel around fifteen to twenty miles-per-hour and never pressed the brake pedal between the gas pump island and the parking spaces near the front of the business. I believed this was reckless due to: the time of day, it being a weekday, there were multiple vehicles parked in front of the business and beside gas pumps, Cherokee County schools are also out this week giving the increased possibility of children and other customers darting out in front of the Infiniti. If struck, a vehicle traveling at those speeds can cause serious or fatal injuries to a pedestrian. Then the Infiniti drove around the gas pump island at that same speed, going back to the entrance/exit we just came from and the Infiniti rapidly accelerated onto Old Ball Ground Highway, southbound.

I notified Cherokee dispatch I was in pursuit and gave the direction of travel. I was able to catch up to the driver side door of the Infiniti and saw the male driver since the window was halfway rolled down. The male locked eyes with me, I observed he was wearing a black doo rag and was not wearing a seat belt, the driver continued to aggressively accelerate. With my emergency lights and siren activated we reached speeds close to 100 miles per hour.

The Infiniti made a right turn and traveled back northbound on Riverstone Parkway. The Infiniti made random lane changes cutting in and out of other vehicles. At the Reinhardt College Parkway intersection, the Infiniti turned left to go westbound. Again, switching lanes and approaching 100 miles per hour. Once we approached the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard intersection, the Infiniti disregarded the red traffic signal and almost caused a head-on collision with a pickup truck, the pickup had to abruptly apply its brakes to avoid the collision.

At the Reservoir Drive intersection, the Infiniti turned right traveling toward Teasley Middle School. I continued to pursue the Infiniti on Reservoir Drive. Once we were closing in on the roundabout for the Great Sky neighborhood, speeds were around ninety miles per hour. At this point I believed it was too reckless to continue pursuing and backed off, losing sight of the Infiniti. I let Deputy Yarbrough get in front of me (in his patrol car) and began to patrol the neighborhood.

I heard over the radio the Sheriff and other units located the Infiniti. This started another pursuit, northbound on Highway 140 approaching the Great Sky Parkway intersection. The Sheriff attempted a PIT but was unsuccessful, as result of the driver of the Infiniti’s driving behaviors, caused a collision between the Sheriff and another motorist. The driver of the Infiniti continued to flee northbound on Highway 140. The Infiniti turned onto Sam Nelson Road and then onto Rampley Trail, eventually turning into the driveway of [400 BLOCK] Patriot Trail and fled on foot from other pursuing Deputies.

An area search was performed utilizing various resources for several hours. Neighbors along Rampley Trail would see the male and call 911. However, upon our arrival the male would disappear again. Other law enforcement officers that were present for this incident were able to investigate the identity of the driver. I was able to view a driver license photo of a male named, Joshua Jonathan Joseph. I was able to positively identify that was the driver of the Infiniti.

The license plate attached to the Infiniti was ran on GCIC/NCIC. I learned the registration was cancelled. However, the insurance was active and valid. Joshua’s Georgia driver’s license was also suspended due to multiple failure to appears. An arrest warrant was applied for and issued by Judge Goodwin for the following charges: Excessive window tint, Reckless driving, Fleeing and attempting to elude (felony), No seat belt, Hit and Run (felony), Driving while license is suspended, Obstruction, Disobeying a traffic control device, and Cancelled vehicle registration.

[End of Narrative]

[NARRATIVE #2 on September 24, 2025]

On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at approximately 11:30 I, Sheriff Frank Reynolds, heard over the radio Deputy B. Eubanks attempting to stop a reckless driver on Riverstone Parkway. Since I was in the immediate area I headed in the direction of Deputy Eubanks. Radio traffic indicated the suspect vehicle, a grey Infinity G35, was on Reservoir Drive and headed toward Riverstone Parkway.

I was driving westbound on Riverstone Parkway when I observed the suspect’s vehicle turn right onto Riverstone Parkway from Reservoir Drive at a very high rate of speed. The intersection was blocked with two patrol vehicles from the Canton Police Department. My red and blue emergency strobe lights and siren were activated as I proceeded through the intersection and followed the suspect.

Using my forward momentum, I was able to descend on suspect’s vehicle rather quickly. I immediately attempted to terminate the pursuit utilizing the Pursuit Immobilization Technique (PIT) between Reservoir Drive and Reinhardt College Parkway (RCP). We were traveling at approximately 80 mph and was unable to match speed with the vehicle, although our bumpers did slightly touch.

As we approached the intersection of RCP at approximately 70 mph, I was not sure which direction the suspect was going to turn to set up for another attempted PIT. At the last moment the suspect made an abrupt right turn onto RCP. Weheaded west on RCP towards Waleska and maneuvered around a few cars traveling East and West.

As we approached the intersection of RCP and Loral Canyon I could see the signal was changing and that our lane was turning red. I reduced my speed to allow opposing traffic and opportunity to see and hear my emergency warning lights and siren. The suspect negotiated the intersection in front of a flat bed work truck that was turning left from Laural Canyon onto RCP. This caused the driver of that vehicle to stop in the middle of the roadway and obstructed my ability to follow the suspect’s path.

I was forced to make an evasive left turn to avoid striking the broad side of the truck. However, the right front corner panel of my Tahoe struck a small equipment basket hanging off the back of the truck and the truck’s left rear bumper. I continued forward and struck a crosswalk signal before coming to a complete stop. I immediately stepped out of my vehicle and looked at the driver of the truck to ensure their safety. I asked if he was ‘Okay’ to which he gave me a preliminary gesture that he was not injured. I asked if he was able to relocate his truck to the eastbound turning lane, which he was able to do.

As this was occurring, I motioned to the other law enforcement officers that we were not injured and to proceed through the intersection. I notified dispatch that I had been in a collision and, out of an abundance of caution, requested an ambulance to check on the other driver. I also requested the Georgia State Patrol respond to conduct an independent investigation of the crash.

EMS arrived and spoke to the other driver and me regarding injuries or complaints of injuries. I refused medical treatment and signed a medical release. The other driver was identified as [REDACTED] of [4300 BLOCK] River Ridge Dr. Apt. [REDACTED] Canton, Georgia 30114. He appeared to also refuse medical treatment.

Trooper J. Wilson #548 arrived and completed an accident investigation and provided us with information on how to obtain his report. The other driver left the scene after the investigation in the same vehicle. However, my Tahoe was towed for safety considerations regarding the tire and possible damage not observed.

[End of Narrative]

[NARRATIVE #3 on September 24, 2025]

I was patrolling along I-575 SB and as I exited the interstate to Riverstone Parkway I heard Deputy Eubanks announce over the radio that he had a suspect fleeing from him at Quick Trip. I could see the Quick Trip store from where I was located on the exit ramp. Deputy Eubanks called out the suspect was traveling at high speeds and ran through the intersection of Martin Luther King Blvd. I turned on my lights and headed towards Deputy Eubanks. Deputy Eubanks and others announced they had lost sight of the fleeing suspect in the Great Sky neighborhood.

I continued traveling along Reservoir Dr towards the deputies when the suspect drove past me. The description of the suspects car Deputy Eubanks had given out earlier was a grey Infinity. As the grey Infinity passed by me, I turned around with emergency lights and siren activated as I called it out over the radio that I was behind the suspect and we were headed back towards Canton on Reservoir Drive. I could see the Infinity speeding up and pulling away from me as I was attempting to catch up to it.

A City of Canton Police Officer was sitting at Canton First Baptist and pulled out in front of me as the grey Infinity passed him. I followed behind the Canton Officer calling out the route we were traveling. I was operating my patrol car at speeds between 70 and 80 mph on Reservoir Drive. We continued down to Reinhardt College Pkwy where other Cherokee Sheriff’s Office vehicles got into the pursuit. We traveled down Reinhardt College Pkwy and turned right onto Highway 140 traveling north. I reached speeds of 70 to 80mph traveling along Highway 140 as the driver of the Infinity forced cars to each side of the road as he drove through the center of the both lanes.

Deputies had set up along Highway 140 in an attempt to deploy stop sticks with hopes to immobilize the Infinity but we passed by the deputy staged at Pea Ridge Road. The pursuit continued north on Highway 140 where another deputy had called out at Sardis Circle with stop sticks but the pursuit turned off of Highway 140 onto Sam Nelson Rd. I was reaching speeds between 35 and 70mph on Sam Nelson Rd which has several sharp curves along it. I passed several citizens on Sam Nelson as we pursued the Infinity that continued to drive recklessly and put the motoring public at risk of serious injury and or death. The driver of the Infinity later identified as Joshua Jonathon Joseph continued traveling at dangerously high rates of speed on the curvy road until he turned left off of Sam Nelson onto Rampley Trail.

Rampley Trail has construction work being performed on it so it was partially gravel and asphalt. The dust cloud being turned up from the vehicles in front of me was too thick to drive through at a moderately high rate of speed so I had to slow down to speeds of 20 to 30mph in order to operate my patrol vehicle safely. As I was traveling through the dust cloud, Major Anderson announced over the radio there was a car traveling towards me.

As I was travelling through the thick dust I could only see the vehicle once I was very close to it. When I was able to get past the vehicle and the dust settled enough to safely see what was ahead of me I speed up and attempted to catch up to the lead pursuit vehicles which had turned onto Patriot Trail. Once on Patriot Trail Major Anderson announced over the radio they had turned into the first road on the right with a black gate. I arrived a few seconds after he did and could see the road was actually a driveway so I gave Dispatch the address of [400 BLOCK] Patriot Trail and Dispatch advised that Joshua had ran into the woods.

I waited for K-9 to arrive and once Deputy Reece got on scene I followed him and Deputy Mason Yarbrough into the woods. I remained 40 or so yards behind them so I could provide rear coverage in case Joshua was lying down and hiding in the fallen trees and many large stump holes that were around us. Deputy Reece and K-9 Vader located a black Croc shoe in the creek bed at the bottom of a steep ravine where Joshua had ran down to. I stayed near the area of the shoe until another K-9 unit arrived to pick up the track.

Sergeant Jordan arrived with his K-9 and resumed the track. I still remained in the area of the shoe until another Deputy called out over the radio that she had a visual of Joshua by a chicken house located off of Sam Nelson Rd. I responded to that area where I conducted a roving patrol for the remainder of the search for Joshua. The perimeter was eventually broke down due to on coming shift change so I returned to service.

[End of Narrative]

[NARRATIVE #4 on September 25, 2025]

On September 25th, 2025, Sgt. Jordan and I began investigating the location of Joshua Joseph. Joshua had multiple arrest warrants from the previous day related to a vehicle pursuit.

I contacted Joshua’s mom, [WITNESS #1], around 9am asked if she had heard from him. She informed me she had not and told me his new girlfriend’s name is [WITNESS #2]. She did not know much about [WITNESS #2] because her son just started dating her a few weeks ago. I recalled running a license plate during the search for Joshua yesterday and the registered owner having the name of [WITNESS #2].

The particular car was seen on Ramply Trail, Patriot Trail, and Sam Nelson multiple times yesterday. A white female was driving it all the times. It was driving slow all around out search area yesterday so we became suspicious it might be in the area trying to pick up Joshua. I checked that vehicle’s tag [REDACTED] through Flock and it showed it hit on Sam Nelson this morning around 0830.

I went to Joshua’s residence to see if the vehicle was there and it was not. While parked in front of the apartment building a female approached me and introduced herself as Joshua’s mom. She was very cooperative and wanted to help Joshua turn himself in but had not heard from him yet. She allowed us to search the apartment and Joshua was not inside.

Intel unit provided us with further information. [WITNESS #2]’s dad lives at [1400 BLOCK] Little Refuge Rd which was close by the incident location. Sgt. Jordan and I went to this address and spoke with [WITNESS #2]’s dad, [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] wanted to help so he contacted [WITNESS #2] on the phone. He told her two cops were on his front porch and [WITNESS #2] was not surprised.

[WITNESS #2] was not initially cooperative but eventually confessed to picked Joshua up this morning off Ramply Trail and that he was with her now. [WITNESS #2] advised she was in Jasper and agreed to meet us at the gas station at the intersection of Cove Rd and Burnt Mountain Rd with Joshua. Sgt. Jordan and I relocated to this location and began waiting on her to arrive.

A short time later I observed [WITNESS #2]’s car pull into the gas station parking lot and come over towards us. I observed Joshua sitting in the passenger seat so I approached the passenger side, opened the door, and told him to step out. Joshua got out of the vehicle and he was secured in handcuffs behind his back, the cuffs were checked for proper fit, and double locked. Joshua was upset, crying, and very apologetic about the whole incident. Joshua was searched incident to arrest before being placed in the rear of Deputy Little’s patrol vehicle.

[WITNESS #2] again admitted to picking him up this morning and being in the area yesterday trying to pick him up. She said Joshua was afraid of deportation and that’s why he ran. Deputy Little transported Joshua to the ADC where he was booked in without incident.

[End of Narrative]