Carroll County

Deputies kill man high on meth who tried to run them down with squad car, GBI says

By Wendy Halloran
By Wendy Halloran

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — A fight between a man and his soon-to-be-landlord ended with the man being shot by a Carroll County deputy.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident after the deputy opened fire on the man when they say he tried to use a patrol car as a weapon.

"We're kind of used to crime there, but not on this scale," neighbor Sam Gentry told Channel 2's Wendy Halloran.

Gentry said he has lived in the area his entire life.

“There’s two townhouses with four separate living units there and we’ve had a lot of trouble in the past there,” Gentry said.

The whole thing started with a call to 911. Investigators said Jessie Thedford got into an argument with his soon-to-be-landlord at the duplex on Little River Road in Carrollton.

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“The landlord did decide he didn’t want Thedford to stay there,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles told Halloran.

One Carroll County sheriff’s deputy responded. Then another. That’s when one of the deputies searched Thedford. 

“They found what was suspected to be methamphetamine on his person,” Miles said. 

Miles said Thedford was placed under arrest, handcuffed and put in the back of the patrol car. But Thedford had no intention of going to jail.

“Thedford was able to get through the partition after slipping his hands in front of him,” Miles said. 

Still handcuffed, Thedford got into the driver’s seat and drove toward the deputies and the landlord. 

“It’s like something out of a movie,” Gentry told Halloran.

Miles said Thedford ignored the deputies’ commands to stop. 

“One deputy did fire his service weapon into the patrol vehicle, Thedford was struck,” Miles said.

“It’s also horrific. It’s a terrible thing,” Gentry said. 

The patrol car Tedford commandeered was towed from the scene.

Thedford was pronounced dead at Tanner Medical Center. An autopsy will be performed on Monday.

Cox Media Group

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