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Two local men arrested after fleeing from troopers
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    Two men stopped Monday afternoon for a traffic offense fled Georgia State Patrol troopers, abandoned their vehicle and ran for miles before being apprehended by the Bulloch County Sheriff's Department.
    Melvin Jamarcus Lanier, 28, Reed Street, Statesboro, and Olaudah Valeon  McKenzie, 30, West Jones Avenue, Statesboro, were each charged with fleeing and attempt to elude officers, according to GSP reports. Lanier was also charged with speeding.
    Trooper First-Class Tommy Strickland said in reports he tried stopping a black Nissan Titan on U.S. 301 South near Interstate 16 around 1:32 p.m. Monday, but the driver of the vehicle did not stop, fleeing instead.
    The driver ended up at a dead end on Jo Dan Road, and the two abandoned the Titan and took off on foot, he said.
    Calling for backup by other troopers and Bulloch County Sheriff's deputies, Strickland and others pursued the two men, calling in the K-9 unit from Reidsville State Prison, he said.
    The dog team arrived in the area around 2:15 p.m., and 30 minutes later, deputies took Lanier and McKenzie into custody near Union Church Road, he said.
    Deputies reported finding three men at the scene, but only Lanier and McKenzie were arrested, according to reports and jail records.
    At first troopers and deputies were suspicious of several new saws and power tools found in the vehicle, still in packages. However, investigators discovered the tools had not been stolen and had been purchased in the Statesboro area, said Bulloch County Chief Investigator Capt. Todd Hutchens.
    Investigators did not report possible reasons the two fled, he said.
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