January 4, 2024, 07:51 | Updated: 12:18 p. m.
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANETT, Ala. (AP) — A Georgia sheriff’s deputy was fatally injured when he was stuck by another police vehicle at the end of a high-speed pursuit that crossed over into Alabama.
Coweta County MLA Eric Minix died early Thursday morning after chasing a stolen vehicle, the sheriff’s office wrote on social media, and “during the suspect’s arrest, Eric drove through a police vehicle and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. “
“We have lost a good deputy. We have lost a good man. We have lost a good friend,” the sheriff’s office wrote. Minix, who was also a K-9 officer, is survived by a wife and three daughters.
The Alabama law enforcement firm said Minix, 31, was getting out of his patrol car when he crashed into a pickup truck that struck a police officer in Lanett, a city in Chambers County, just across the border from Georgia. The twist of fate happened on 11:55 p. m. Wednesday on Interstate 85.
The Lannett Police Department said several Georgia police vehicles were involved in what it described as a high-speed chase. The branch said the Alabama officer was placed on administrative leave while the investigation was conducted.
The officer, identified as Cornelius J. Robinson, was responding to assist Minix in the pursuit of a Dodge Challenger that had been reported stolen, the agency stated.
“Please keep all involved in your thoughts and prayers,” the Lanett Police Department wrote in a social media post.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said the driver of the stolen car, identified as Decedric Donson, 25, of Pensacola, was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property and attempting to elude law enforcement. Alabama court records did not immediately show if he has an attorney to speak on his behalf.