A police officer in Georgia has been fired after purposefully ramming his cruiser into a fleeing suspect.
Taylor Saulters, an officer with Athens-Clarke County Police Department, was pursuing a suspect Friday in his patrol car. After initially trying to block the man, who was identified as Timmy Patmon, Saulters used his car to ram Patmon and send him flying across the hood of his cruiser.
The encounter immediately infuriated witnesses who watched the scene unfold.
“You didn’t have hit that man like that,” one woman can be heard saying in the background as Saulters and his partner arrest Patmon, who was wanted on a felony probation warrant and who looked extremely dazed from being struck.
But even after he’d hit Patmon, Saulters then proceeded to threaten him with his Taser. “Give us your hands now, or you’re gonna get Tased,” Saulters says. “Do you understand me? Make the right decision,” he can be heard saying on video captured from his body camera.
Saulters, who was immediately placed on administrative leave, was fired on Saturday after it was determined he violated department policy.
In a statement, Athens-Clarke police added that there was both an internal investigation and a investigation by Georgia State Patrol being carried out.
“This was not the type of conduct we would expect from an Athens-Clarke County police officer,” police spokesman Epifanio Rodriguez said.
He added that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating to determine whether Saulters, who graduated from the police academy less than a year ago, will face criminal charges.
Patmon was taken to hospital, where he was treated for minor cuts and bruises before being taken to jail for probation violation.