A Note From A Leon County Deputy: A Cover-up Investigation By LCSO For Georgia Deputy

Several months ago, in the latter part of last year, a Georgia Sheriff’s Office pursued a vehicle into Leon County. They used the P.I.T. to crash the car way up off 319 North (Thomasville Road) area. The suspects bailed out and ran. One of our first Deputies on scene noticed several shell casings at the scene and questioned the Georgia deputy. He denied any shots were fired. when (at the time) Lt. Linda Butler (now Capt.) arrived on scene, she was briefed by our deputy (Adam Ellington), who showed her the spent casings. They again questioned the Georgia deputy who then admitted to firing multiple rounds at the fleeing suspects. The supervisor for the Georgia deputy showed up and was briefed. LCSO supervisors on scene allowed the Georgia supervisor to work the scene and cover up the shooting. The initial pursuit was traffic and property crime related only. The Georgia deputy had no justification for using lethal force, only after he spoke with his supervisor did he say he thought the suspects might have had a gun. One suspect was located and the other not found. LCSO should have at the least written the incident up accordingly and investigated the use of force to see what, if any the state attorney’s office would have done. If someone would make a public records request on Ellington’s calls for service, they could then locate a case number. This can be done by looking under other agency assist screen, which is a signal 78. Also Ellington booked the captured suspect at the jail and charged them with traffic charges, which is allowed under Fellow Officer Rule case law.

Note:  We received the attached note from a LCSO Deputy in which we cannot confirm or deny the allegations.