PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities have released the name of a suspect who led police on a chase across two states and three counties.
Cleburne County, Alabama deputies first notified deputies across the state line that a chase was happening nearby around 11:57 a.m. At the time, Haralson County officials in Georgia said the chase didn't appear to be headed their way, but that soon changed.
"A short time later, the chase did enter into Haralson County, and we were advised there were guns being thrown from the vehicle," a media release from the Haralson County Sheriff's Office said.
That vehicle was a GMC Yukon, but it wouldn't be the last one involved in this chase. The pursuit continued into Tallapoosa, Georgia where the suspect allegedly left the Yukon on Broad Street and broke into a nearby home and stole another truck – a white Toyota Tacoma pickup.
A statement from Haralson County Chief Deputy Joel McSwain alleges that, at some point, the suspect opened fire. A Georgia State Patrol trooper responded by returning fire at the fleeing vehicle.
The chase ultimately continued into Paulding County where, according to sheriff's office Sgt. Ashley Henson, deputies noticed that the truck's back glass was shattered and possibly shot out. Henson said deputies were able to successfully deflate one of the suspects tires utilizing "stop-sticks" and eventuall the truck gradually slowed down as the tire began to disintegrate. The suspect crashed the pickup truck into an embankment then hit a tree in the 100 block of Old White Oak Church Cemetery Road.
Henson said the suspect, later identified as 25-year-old Donald Brandon Hamner, was taken to Kennestone Hospital for treatment. A statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reveals that he suffered a gunshot wound to the arm and a bite from a dog.
In addition to having a trooper involved in the shooting, the GSP said it also has deputies investigating numerous accidents that were a result of the chase – two in Paulding County and another in Haralson County.
The GBI has since been called in to investigate the shooting. Their findings will be turned over to the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office for review.
Sheriff Gary Gulledge stated, “This is a true testament to how well we work with both our state, local, and Alabama law enforcement partners. Thankfully this chase ended up with no citizens, Deputies, Troopers, or Officers injured. I hope this individual faces the full extent of what the law allows during his prosecution.
Hamner faces charges including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer though, luckily, no officers were injured.
