2 officers injured, suspect dead in chase
CORDELE — Authorities say a chase and shooting on an interstate in central Georgia has left one person dead of a self-inflicted gunshot and two officers injured, potentially by friendly fire.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Terry Howard tells local media the chase began around 4 p.m. Thursday when Ashburn police tried to pull over a car for a tag violation. He says the suspect sped off and fired at pursuing officers.
The vehicle eventually stopped on Interstate 75 in Crisp County.
Howard says an Ashburn police officer and a Turner County deputy were injured by gunfire apparently from another officer.
Both were treated at a hospital and released.
The suspect was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot. An injured female passenger was taken to a hospital. An investigation is ongoing.
Man sentenced for impersonating US Marshal
ATLANTA — An Atlanta-area man will be serving about one year in prison for impersonating a United States Marshal.
U.S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release that 56- year- old John L. Edens of Sandy Springs falsely claimed to be a Deputy U.S. Marshal when he submitted a re- quest to a cellphone provider in order to get location information about individuals.
Horn says Edens claimed he needed the information to rescue kidnapped children, but instead used it to help him with his job of repossessing vehicles.
Edens pleaded guilty to six counts of false impersonation in September.
He was sentenced Wednesday to one year and one day in prison and ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay a special assessment of $600.
Ex-deputy gets prison in
identity fraud case
MACON — A former Bibb County deputy has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to sending explicit photos of a woman — while pretending to be her — to his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend in an attempt to disrupt their relationship.
News outlets report that 37-yearold Ryan Willis apologized Thursday during a Bibb County hearing in which he was sentenced for felony identity fraud and two counts of making harassing phone calls. Willis had pleaded guilty earlier in the week.
Authorities said the photos Willis had used were of a woman who had gone to Willis for help as a victim in a criminal case.
Judge Ed Ennis sentenced Willis to two years in prison and eight years in probation, saying Willis had taken advantage of the woman in order to victimize two others.
Man sentenced for killing dog he threw off balcony
MARIETTA — A Cobb County man has been sentenced to five years in prison for killing a dog by throwing it over a balcony.
The Cobb District Attorney’s office announced Thursday that 28year- old Lee Bishop Bullock of Kennesaw pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.
Authorities say Bullock killed the dog in June, when he was living with the dog’s owner.
Prosecutor Sherwin Figueroa says Bullock was already on felony probation when he slammed the animal’s head into a wall and threw it off a second-floor balcony.
Bullock’s lawyer told the court that Bullock was addicted to prescription drugs at the time.
Sentencing Bullock to five years in prison and five years of probation, Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert Leonard said the crime was an issue of character, not just drugs.