A 30-year old Athens, Georgia man is in a local hospital recovering from two-gun shot wounds after an altercation with local police Thursday.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, this morning at around 4:30 AM, at the Easy Quick Shop convenience store on Highway 78 in Villa Rica, a Villa Rica police Officer discharged his weapon twice at the man.
GBI special agent in charge, Chris Demarco said that Villa Rica Police officers responded to an alarm at the Easy Quick Shop convenient store on Highway 78. Upon arrival, a male subject was seen pumping air into his tires. One officer asked for information from the subject. While checking the information, the subject entered his vehicle and drove towards the officers.
“He came forward towards one of the officers and one of the officers actually discharged his weapon twice,” said Demarco. “We now know that he struck the individual twice. The subject struck both police vehicles with his car.”
The suspect then fled. A short chase ensued until police lost track of the vehicle.
At around 10:45 AM the vehicle was found five miles from the convenience store.
Authorities eventually located the man on Jennifer Lane. He had two gunshot wounds. He was in stable condition and was transported to a local hospital.
The male subject has been identified as D. James Daigle.
According to GBI, Daigle did have two active warrants: one for a failure to appear on a forgery charge and one for possession of meth amphetamines.
He now faces additional meth related and aggravated assault charges.
VRPD Captain Michael Mansour says the officer involved in the incident is un-injured. He has been been placed on administrative leave, pending the GBI investigation.
