A Coweta County deputy was forced to fire at a speeding U-Haul truck Sunday night after the vehicle hit a car head-on and tried to wreck into other vehicles on I-85, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies were pursuing the U-Haul after it took off from a Pilot Travel Center on U.S. 29 in Newnan, Maj. Mark Fenninger said in a news release. The chase traveled down the highway and onto I-85 North before the deputies opened fire, hitting the driver and causing the truck to wreck against a concrete wall near the Bullsboro Drive exit.
“The driver of the U-Haul had no regard for the safety of the citizens on the roadway,” Fenninger said. “He would try to hit every car he came up to. At this time a decision was made to use deadly force, this was a last resort and only option at this time.”
The driver, identified by authorities as 45-year-old Jackie Harris, was given medical aid at the scene before he was taken to Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center. His passenger, Mario Keen, 42, was first taken to Piedmont Newnan Hospital and then released to the Coweta County Jail. Harris' status and Keen’s charges were not released Monday morning.
The shooting is being investigated by the GBI. It is the 79th officer-involved shooting the state agency has investigated this year.
Fenninger said a deputy first tried to make contact with the two men about 9:20 p.m. while investigating a report of an attempted theft. A truck driver at a BP truck stop on U.S. 29 called 911 to report that someone in a U-Haul tried to break into their trailer.
The deputy spotted the U-Haul at the Pilot center and saw two men “standing at the back of an opened trailer,” Fenninger said.
“The deputy stopped and when walking up to the two subjects, they took off running to the U-Haul,” he said. “The U-Haul took off at a high rate of speed and when exiting on to the (highway), the U-Haul struck a car head-on.”
Two occupants in a Mazda CX-7 were injured and taken to a hospital. Both are expected to survive, the GBI said Monday morning.
According to authorities, the U-Haul then turned off its headlights as it sped down U.S. 29.
“The driver of the U-Haul would try to hit cars head-on, causing the cars to run off the road. This went on for several miles,” Fenninger said.
The chase eventually entered I-85 North. Fenninger said several vehicles in its path pulled over to the side of the interstate to let the speeding U-Haul pass.
“When cars would pull over, the driver of the U-Haul would try to hit the cars on the side of the road,” the major said. “When deputies tried putting out stop sticks, he swerved toward the deputies. When deputies would try to pass him, he would swerve toward the patrol cars.”
Pursuing deputies tried to use stop sticks three more times before finally turning off their blue lights to avoid being hit by the U-Haul, he said.
“A deputy did fire his weapon into the truck, striking the driver,” Fenninger said. “The U-Haul immediately struck the interstate wall and came to a stop.”
The name of the deputy was not released. According to the GBI, no officers were injured during the pursuit.
The state agency is expected to conduct its own investigation before turning its findings over to the local district attorney. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
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