Good Samaritans help deputy during struggle with suspect

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Sheriff's deputies are thanking two Good Samaritans who helped a deputy during a fight with a suspect.

The incident was reported earlier this month on Scenic Highway near Snellville.

Dashcam video shows the suspect, identified as Terence Lee, running from a stolen car before he is shocked with a Taser by Deputy Robert Loewen.

After being shocked, Lee continued to try to fight off the deputy.

Two men ran to help and tried to calm down the suspect.

The men held down the suspect while the deputy handcuffed him.

The Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department wants to thank the men who didn’t hesitate in a potentially dangerous situation.

“Nowadays, it’s uncommon for people to come and help the officers. A lot of people like to stand back and just film, then they put it on YouTube to ridicule us,” Loewen said.

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The deputy said the men probably didn’t realize just how dangerous the situation was.

On the dashcam video, you can hear Lee call out to a woman still in the stolen car. He asks her to grab his bag.

“Don’t know if he was trying to tell them to get the bag or go get what was in the bag,” Loewen said.

Deputies later found a gun in that bag. They said they do not advise citizens to jump in like these men did.

“There are a lot of unknown factors and we wouldn’t want citizens to be put at unnecessary risk,” Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputy Shannon Volkodav said.

Still, Loewen is grateful for the men who did decide to take the risk.

“I haven’t seen it a lot, but the folks in Gwinnett are very, very helpful,” he said.

The men did not want their names released, but the sheriff’s office plans to thank them personally.

Cox Media Group