Two Middle Georgia police officers struck, ‘thrown’ by car as suspect sped away, cops say
Two Forsyth police officers were injured late Thursday when a woman they were trying to arrest drove away, striking one officer with the front of her car and leaving another “thrown to the ground when she sped off,” law enforcement officials said.
The incident happened outside the La Quinta Inn & Suites, which overlooks Interstate 75 near the main Forsyth exit at Georgia Highway 83.
City police later said in a statement sent to news outlets that the officers, Dexter McCune and Sgt. David Asbell, were treated at area hospitals and sent home to recover.
At about 10 p.m., the two officers answered a domestic-disturbance call at an apartment complex. A woman allegedly involved in the fray, Autumn Thomas, was soon found at the La Quinta, where she worked.
It turned out that Thomas, 29, was wanted on an unrelated charge in another county, and the officers tried to take her into custody. As they spoke to her, Thomas was said to have gone to her car and then tried to drive away.
“Officer McCune attempted to get her out of the car and was thrown to the ground when she sped off,” the police statement noted. “Sgt. Asbell was struck by the front end of Ms. Thomas’ vehicle and thrown across the hood.”
Thomas was later tracked down in Jonesboro by Monroe County sheriff’s deputies. She was jailed on two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer.