3 illegals denied bond after manhunt


by Megan Thornton

October 04, 2011 11:54 PM

CANTON — A Cherokee County judge has denied bond for three illegal immigrants living in Smyrna who authorities say led police on a car chase, fired on a state patrol trooper and prompted a day-long manhunt near the Cherokee-Bartow county line.

The three men were charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and other traffic charges in connection with the police pursuit on Sunday. The three were ordered held without bail Tuesday afternoon.

Arturo Aceves Ramirez, 22, was apprehended by Bartow County SWAT on Monday around 10 a.m. near Upper Sweetwater Trail, off Highway 20 near the Cherokee-Bartow line, Cherokee Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Jay Baker said. The other two — Jose Salvador Vera Lule, 28, and Edgar Ortega Maldonado, 35 — were arrested around 5 p.m. Monday close to Lake Allatoona, about three miles away.

Law enforcement officials searched about 5,500 acres for the men.

The incident began when a caller reported the occupants had fired a gun at a passing SUV on Interstate 75 northbound in Bartow County, according to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office. A Georgia State trooper located the Civic on Georgia Highway 20, but the men refused to pull over, prompting a pursuit, Baker said.

Baker said “numerousâ€