A police chase that began in North Augusta and crossed state lines ended Monday morning in Augusta after Richmond County deputies stopped the drug dealer with a tactical maneuver on Bobby Jones Expressway.
Fred David Campbell, 46, was taken into custody and faces charges of felony fleeing police, drug charges and more, authorities said. He’s a North Augusta felon who was out on bond for distributing meth in Aiken County, arrested on April 3 and released five days later on a $5,000 bond. He has over 15 arrests in the Augusta-Aiken area and almost always got probation with rare exceptions for time spent awaiting trial.
Monday’s chase was captured on video by a witness, whose social-media post of the violent crash went viral. It showed the suspect being chased by more than a half-dozen patrol vehicles around 9:50 a.m. Monday.
A report explains how it all started: North Augusta police responded at 9:17 a.m. to a well-being check at the McDonald’s on Georgia Avenue, where a man was reportedly asleep in his Nissan Titan pickup truck in the drive-thru. The driver – later identified as Campbell – initially appeared to cooperate but then fled the scene, leading officers on a 24-mile chase that reached speeds of up to 91 mph. During the pursuit, spike strips were deployed, causing the truck to lose three tires, yet Campbell continued driving recklessly through neighborhoods and across county lines, a NADPS report says.
As the chase moved onto I-520, the truck lost additional tires and its side airbags deployed after hitting a curb. Despite driving on a single functioning tire, Campbell continued into Georgia, where Richmond County deputies took over and ended the pursuit with a PIT maneuver near Wrightsboro Road. Officers recovered a bag tossed from the vehicle containing methamphetamine, fentanyl, Xanax, and LSD. Campbell now faces charges including reckless driving, failure to stop for blue lights, and multiple narcotics offenses.
Campbell is a repeat offender, with more mugshots than a middle school yearbook committee. He’s been arrested almost every year since he was a youth, with charges for shoplifting, trespassing, assault, carrying a concealed weapon, credit card fraud, drug possession, domestic violence, assault & battery, unlawful communication, malicious injury to property, obstruction, theft of service and driving on a suspended license.
Campbell had a viral mugshot in 2020 when Richmond County authorities arrested him for a state court bench warrant for violating terms of his sentence. In the jail, he was placed shirtless in a restraint chair while bleeding from the top of his bald head.
