Florida man leads deputies on 100 mph chase

    Murphy – Some days, you just want to stop and enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery, while on others you are just passing through.
    And some days, you are passing through at 100 mph.
    Such was the case with three visitors from Florida on Monday morning, who were arrested after a high-speed chase through half the county.
    A little past 8 a.m. Monday, Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies observed a car flying down Airport Road at triple-digit speeds, and they initiated a chase.
    The driver made his way to U.S. 74 east and turned left in Marble at N.C. 141, running the red light. He then took deputies on a tour of county back roads, going from Hendrix Road to Barnett Road and past Greenlawn Cemetery, still racing at 100 mph speeds.
    The deputies lost him briefly, then another deputy picked him back up at Old Peachtree Road. A convoy tried to block him on Wells Road near Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel, but again the driver escaped going west in the eastbound lane of the four-lane highway doing 100.
    Murphy police deployed spike strips not far from the casino and blew the driver’s tires. He made it as far the next intersection before being trapped by deputies at Walgreens.
    Eyewitness Jill Hughes was on her way to work and felt lucky to have been warned about the situation by law enforcement officers.
    “I did not know that little car could even go that fast,” Hughes said. “The officers were right on his tail, and it is good to know we have that strong of a police presence to deal with these situations.”
    Deputies allegedly found methamphetamine, marijuana and a handgun in the car, Sheriff Derrick Palmer said.
    “The driver was under the influence of drugs and/or has some cognitive problems,” Palmer said.
    The driver was identified as Alexander Lee Guttman, 22, of Hudson, Fla. He was arrested on charges of speeding, felony fleeing to elder, felony possession of meth, maintaining a vehicle containing a controlled substance, resisting/obstructing/delaying, possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance in jail.
    Kayla Amarah Messere, 22, of Spring Hill, Fla., was arrested on felony possession of meth and resisting/obstructing/delaying.
    Ciara Marie Orfeo, 22, of Palm Harbor, Fla., was arrested on charges of possession of meth and a concealed handgun, along with resisting/obstructing/delaying.