A wild chase through the Middleground community early Monday evening ended with deputies finding a meth lab and having to subdue the fleeing driver via Taser.

Richard Harden Lanier, 43, of Rocky Ford Road, was wanted for questioning regarding several stolen property cases. When members of the Statesboro-Bulloch Crime Suppression Team located him behind a home on Rocky Ford Road, Lanier fled in a Nissan Pathfinder, Bulloch County Sheriff Lynn Anderson said in a news release issued Tuesday.

Lanier, who also failed to comply with bond conditions after being released in September following a charge of manufacturing methamphetamine, fled from CST agents and Bulloch County sheriff's deputies, driving recklessly in the areas of Two Chop, Akins Pond and Williams roads, refusing to stop, with several patrol cars in pursuit, the sheriff said.

When the chase led to Williams Road near U.S. Highway 25, Lanier drove into a field and then a ditch before "intentionally ramming a marked Bulloch County Sheriff's Office patrol car," Anderson said.

Deputies tried three separate times to stop Lanier using a PIT, or pursuit intervention technique, maneuver, in which an officer uses his vehicle to bump a fleeing suspect's car to force it to stop, but did not succeed, Anderson said.

Then, "Lt. Bobby Durden was finally able to PIT Lanier's vehicle into a ditch where other deputies boxed him in," the sheriff said.

However, Lanier still didn't surrender. He refused to unlock the door and get out of the Pathfinder, causing deputies to shatter the glass in order to get him out, Anderson said.

"Lanier continued to physically resist and had to be subdued using a Taser," the sheriff said.

A "functioning" meth lab was discovered in the vehicle, which was also occupied by Staci Street Anderson, 45, of Rocky Ford Road. She was also taken into custody, the sheriff said.

Lanier is charged with felony fleeing/attempt to elude, driving with a suspended license, obstruction, speeding, reckless driving, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, possession of a knife during the commission of a crime, possession of methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine, theft by receiving stolen property and wanted person (Superior Court bench warrant). Lanier has an extensive criminal history including multiple previous arrests and convictions for methamphetamine-related crimes, Sheriff Anderson said.
Street is charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, obstruction and possession of a drug-related object. Both she and Lanier are being held without bond at the Bulloch County Jail, awaiting further court action.

According to radio reports by Georgia State Patrol troopers responding to the scene after Lanier's capture, at least five vehicles involved in the chase were damaged. GSP conducted a traffic accident investigation following the chase. No injuries other than minor cuts suffered by Lanier were reported; Lanier was taken to the hospital for treatment before he was taken to jail, Anderson said.

"Twenty patrol deputies recently attended a school at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center to become certified on the PIT maneuver," the sheriff said. "The PIT maneuver enables deputies to end a dangerous pursuit such as Lanier's before the pursuit reaches heavily populated areas, such as Statesboro."

Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.