At press time, the Blairsville Police Department was asking the community’s help in locating a Union County resident wanted for fleeing law enforcement in a Feb. 7 chase that resulted in two collisions with the motoring public.
Around 3 p.m. on Friday, Shiloh Jacob Orellana-Irvin, 30, was allegedly driving through town when Blairsville Police Chief Michael “Bear” Baxter got behind his red Ford Focus to stop him for a tag violation.
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Baxter initiated the traffic stop in the west-facing left turn lane of Georgia 515 at the intersection of Murphy Highway. The chief said that Orellana-Irvin at first appeared as if he was going to pull over while making his way slowly toward the four-way stop at Blue Ridge Street.
Suddenly, Orellana-Irvin hit the gas, speeding his way down the wrong lane of Blue Ridge Street toward Blue Ridge Highway, in the process hitting a passing motorist in front of Sushi Shack and damaging both vehicles. Baxter said that, thankfully, no one was hurt in the collision.
“When he got to Blue Ridge Highway, he ran through the intersection (heading west),” Baxter said. “At some point after striking the initial vehicle, the hood of the car flipped over the windshield and was covering the windshield. We terminated the chase shortly thereafter.”
Baxter said he ended the chase “due to the individual’s reckless disregard for the motoring public,” as Orellana-Irvin was driving with greatly diminished visibility and “at a high rate of speed.”
Chief Baxter said another reason he called off the pursuit was because he knew the identity of the driver, both from information obtained for the attempted stop as well as having had prior run-ins with Orellana-Irvin, so he felt confident the fugitive would be in custody before long.
“It just was not worth the danger of hurting someone or anything,” Baxter said. “We could tell he was very desperate, and we knew who he was, so we broke it off.”
The chief deactivated his lights and sirens and continued to follow the fleeing vehicle from a safe distance. Baxter witnessed Orellana-Irvin strike another car on Blue Ridge Highway while the hood of his car still covered his windshield. Once again, no one was injured in the collision.
“He went about a mile and a half outside of the city and pulled into a driveway just prior to Fairview Church Road,” Baxter said. “The individual jumped out of the car while it was still rolling and ran.
“Union County Sheriff’s Office was quick to arrive with a tracking dog. An initial track was made with that dog, but we did not locate him.”
Baxter said his agency now has multiple warrants for Orellana-Irvin’s arrest, “and we did discover that he’s wanted” by another agency in Georgia.
“So, we are asking for the public’s help in this case,” Baxter said Sunday. “We’re going to catch him – we know we will. It’d be in his best interests to turn himself in.
“He struck two vehicles fleeing from this traffic stop. It was just a bad situation, a bad time of day with the amount of traffic out after school, and we just felt it was better to break that pursuit off versus continuing to chase him and someone getting injured or killed.”
Baxter said authorities currently have no reason to believe that Orellana-Irvin is a present danger to the public while at large: “We have no indication that he was armed or anything – there was no evidence of that.”
Anyone who sees Orellana-Irvin or knows his whereabouts is being asked to call the E911 Non-Emergency Number at 706-439-6038, which is available 24/7. All calls will remain “discreet and anonymous.”
“We appreciate any help we can get to try to take this individual into custody before he hurts or takes the risk of hurting someone else in another one of these chases,” Baxter said.
