EXCESSIVE

Georgia Cop Fired After Intentionally Hitting Fleeing Suspect With Car

“Why’d you run?” he asked the injured suspect after striking him.

An officer with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department in Georgia was fired Saturday after a dashcam video showed him intentionally running down a fleeing suspect with his patrol car. “After reviewing the officers’ body camera footage, and all the other facts and circumstances of this case, Chief Scott Freeman terminated the employment of Officer Taylor Saulters,” the police department said in a statement. Video of the June 1 incident shows Saulters and his partner, officer Hunter Blackmon, driving after a suspect who was on foot as he fled on the sidewalk. After the suspect, Timothy Patmon, repeatedly dodges Saulters’ patrol car, Saulters can be seen accelerating and veering the vehicle directly into Patmon, all while a crowd of onlookers watched. Patmon flew up onto the hood of the car and crashed down onto the pavement but reportedly suffered only minor injuries. As Saulters ushered Patmon into the police car after striking him, he reportedly asked, “Why’d you run?”