An Atlanta man was booked into jail early Monday after he fled from officers in a stolen vehicle.
According to the arrest report, police found the white Audi 27-year-old Nathaniel Gates drove was stolen. Alachua Police attempted a traffic stop, but Gates drove around two patrol cars with their emergency lights on.
Gates accelerated to about 70 mph before entering northbound Interstate 75 from Northwest U.S. Highway 441, according to the arrest report. He stopped at the 399 mile-marker, where he was detained.
A search of the car revealed a pistol reported as stolen and two tablets of oxycodone hydrochloride, an opioid Gates was unable to provide a prescription for, according to the report.
Gates had previously been convicted of two felonies — evading arrest and selling marijuana — in Texas and Georgia in 2017 and 2023 respectively.
He was charged with four additional felonies after the chase: fleeing police, grand theft, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of a gun by a felon.
Police also arrested 22-year-old Jada Kendrick, an Atlanta resident who was in the passenger seat. According to the arrest report, she was aware the car and gun were stolen. Kendrick was charged with two felonies: grand theft and theft of a gun.
Gates and Kendrick were taken to the Alachua County Sheriff's Department of Jail.
Contact Julianna Bendeck at jbendeck@alligator.org.
Julianna Bendeck is a first-year journalism student and the Summer 2026 criminal justice reporter. She previously worked as a contributing writer and race and equity reporter at The Alligator. Outside the newsroom, she enjoys reading, surfing the web and playing video games.
