UPDATE POSTED 5:30 P.M. TODAY:
The Gwinnett County man charged with a weekend armed robbery did not go quietly when Hall County sheriff’s deputies confronted him after hearing a lookout for him from Gainesville Police. That’s according to a statement released by the sheriff’s office Tuesday.
It says a deputy spotted him in a car the alleged robber had also taken and began trying to stop it but the driver, later identified as Kristian Sameo Branch, 28, of Lilburn, continued on, swerving in the roadway. The deputy then conducted a maneuver that brought the stolen vehicle to a stop on Thompson Bridge Road just north of Dunlap Landing Road.
But the report says Branch jumped from the vehicle and fled into nearby woods. However, he was soon captured and placed under arrest but not before first kicking at the deputies.
The sheriff’s office charged Branch with fleeing/attempting to elude, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and obstruction of an officer (two counts).
He also faces charges from the state patrol and city police.
EARLIER STORY. POSTED AT 8:00 A.M. TODAY:
A Gwinnett County man was still being held in the Hall County Jail early Tuesday following his arrest over the weekend on armed robbery and theft charges.
The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) announced Kristian Branch’s arrest Monday. The Lilburn resident allegedly stole a vehicle at knifepoint Saturday in the 700 block of Spring Street.
Shortly afterward, a Hall County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted the stolen vehicle, police said, and was able to take Branch into custody.