FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — The driver of a pickup truck repeatedly drove into a group of motorcyclists, Sunday, chasing them for about 20 miles as they tried to get away from him, and fired a gun at least twice at them, according to investigators.
“It’s called road rage,” said Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office Corporal Doug Rainwater. “He was so engulfed in anger, for whatever reason, he just didn’t like the fact that they [the bikers] were driving up [Georgia Highway] 400 on a sunny Sunday.”
Fortunately, no one was injured.
The pickup truck driver, identified by the sheriff’s office as 44-year-old Christopher Brechka of Dawsonville, is facing charges of felony aggravated assault with a gun and reckless conduct, a misdemeanor.
The investigation is still underway and the sheriff’s office said Brechka could face additional charges.
According to Rainwater, late Sunday morning, about 20 motorcyclists were driving northbound on GA 400, two-by-two in the far right lane.
“The motorcyclists were doing everything right,” Rainwater said. “They were staying in their lane.”
Rainwater said Brechka pulled up in a Ford F150 pickup behind the bikers near the interchange of Georgia 400 and GA 20, “pushing his front bumper onto the back tire of the last motorcycle in the pack ... then he started making his way through the pack in their lane, making the motorcyclists go to the right or left” to get out of Brechka’s way.
“He makes it to the front ... he starts brake-checking the motorcyclists behind him,” Rainwater said.
According to Rainwater, the bikers tried to get away from Brechka and turned off of GA 400 onto Martin Road, then onto GA Highway 9, but Brechka continued to follow them, “tapping his front bumper” again into the tire of one of the bikers, “trying to make him crash.”
Somehow, Rainwater said, Brechka was able to pass the bikers on the two-lane Highway 9, crossing the yellow line into the southbound lane.
He said after Brechka made it to the front of the group again, he continued to brake-check the bikers, and one of the bikers tried to pass Brechka to avoid rear-ending his pickup.
“All of a sudden two shots are fired from the truck,” Rainwater said.
Investigators say someone recorded video with a Go Pro.
“We look at the Go Pro … and we are convinced … this man, in the pickup truck, tried to crash those motorcycles, and at one point he did take out a gun and fired two shots.”
Rainwater said Brechka finally stopped, when he and some of the bikers pulled into the Dawson County Sheriff's Office in Dawsonville, while some of the other bikers stopped at the Dawson County fire station off of Highway 9, just past the Forsyth County line, to call 911.
“I believe that, at some point, he’s thinking, ‘Wow, I really messed up, I did something really stupid,’” Rainwater said. “Especially with the gun. So I think he knew that the motorcyclists, they were going to call us, so he decided instead of them calling on their own, he would stay behind and just face the music."
Authorities said he is cooperating with investigators, but he never said why he was so angry at the bikers.
Rainwater said there were two others in the pickup truck with Brechka, but he didn’t know their relationships.
“They were completely innocent of this," he added.
Rainwater said that investigators never recovered Brechka’s gun, believing “he probably discarded it” before pulling over.
Brechka was booked into the Forsyth County jail and was released on a bond of just under $12,000.
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