Man flees traffic stop, lands on grounds of Georgia's most secure prison

Officials: man runs from officers onto prison property

A manhunt for motorist Michael Brown, Jr. who fled from the side of I-75 during a traffic stop ended on the property of a maximum security prison that houses Georgia’s death row, officials said.

BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. - A man who fled a traffic stop in Butts County made a critical mistake when he ran onto the grounds of Georgia’s most secure prison — one that houses death row inmates and some of the state’s top tracking dogs.

SEE ALSO: Man tries to flee Butts County traffic stop with meth, deputies say

What we know:

Michael Brown Jr. was pulled over recently on Interstate 75 by the Butts County Sheriff’s Office Crime Suppression Unit. Deputies said they detected a strong smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle and attempted to detain Brown for a search. Instead, he ran.

"With him fleeing on foot, deputies got in a tussle with him," said Sgt. Hunter Hemphill of the Butts County Sheriff’s Office. "He came out of shirt, ripped his shirt off so he got away."

Brown crossed I-75 and entered the wooded property of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison — a maximum-security facility and the intake center for the state’s prison system.

That move brought in a new team to the manhunt: state prison K9 units.

"They are phenomenal," Hemphill said. "We couldn’t do it without those guys’ help."

Within hours, the prison's bloodhounds tracked down and helped capture Brown.

During the search, deputies also discovered a pound of methamphetamine buried in the woods, which they believe belonged to Brown. He now faces charges of meth trafficking.

Authorities say Brown had been released from state prison just months earlier, in February.

"They were welcoming him back home because he just got out of prison last February," Hemphill said.

What's next:

As the primary intake center for all state inmates, the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison is a facility Brown is likely familiar with. If convicted of the new charges, officials say he may be headed back there — this time, to stay.