JACKSON COUNTY, GA– Deputies are commending a father who did everything in his power to stop a man who followed his daughter home from work.
The incident occurred on Thursday night in Jackson County.
Authorities say the 17-year-old victim was driving home from her restaurant job when she noticed a man following her in his car.
“He was right on her bumper using his flasher at one point pulled up beside, went around her and brake checked,” Sheriff Janis Mangum with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said.
The teen then called her dad and her dad advised her to keep driving toward their home.
“He told her, ‘Don’t stop. Keep driving.’”
When the teen entered the subdivision where she lives, her father noticed the vehicle still following her and jumped into his truck. He blocked the suspect from following his daughter, however, the suspect droved around the vehicle and through a grassy area to continue following the girl.
The father then used his truck to ram the suspect’s car, finally getting the suspect to give up the chase.
“And the dad blocked him first,” Mangum said. “He went around him in a yard and continued to follow her. That’s when the dad rammed him a second time with his truck, and that time it stopped him.”
Authorities arrived at the scene to arrest 24-year-old Volodymyr Ionashku.
He has been charged with drunk driving, driving without a license, and other charges.
While the teen’s father was commended for his actions, he got several traffic citations.
“As a sheriff, I can tell you that father was doing everything he could do to protect his daughter,” Mangum said. “Which is what any parent would do.”