Texas fugitive indicted by a Gordon County Grand Jury
♦ Dalton Lee Potter was found near Resaca following a 2020 manhunt.
A Texas fugitive who was found in the woods near Resaca following a September 2020 manhunt has been indicted in Gordon County.
Dalton Lee Potter, the man who eluded authorities during a threeday manhunt after allegedly shooting a Whitfield County deputy and another person near Bandy Lake in Gordon County, was eventually apprehended by deputies.
Potter was indicted by a Gordon County Grand Jury Jan. 5 on of four counts of criminal attempt to commit murder, aggravated assault, hijacking a motor vehicle, three counts of possession of firearm during commission of a felony, and possession of firearm by convicted felon.
Potter is accused of firing multiple shots at Whitfield County Sheriff’s Deputy Darrell Hackney during a traffic stop. Hackney was ultimately saved by his ballistic vest. Officers initially returned fire on Potter, but he was able to drive away south on Interstate 75, wrecking the truck he was driving and escaping into the woods on foot.
He is also accused of shooting
Resaca resident Eddie
Cloer during a home invasion that led to an exchange of gunfire between Cloer and Potter. Potter was also grazed in the head by a shot during that incident.
The GBI initially revealed that Potter had explosives in the truck when they were pulled over. The GBI’s bomb disposal unit was charged with disposing of the explosives.
At the time, Potter had been traveling with Jonathan Hosmer, and both were originally accused of stealing a trailer in Chattanooga and were pulled over on I-75 near the Whitfield-Gordon county line after a license plate scanner detected the stolen trailer.
Potter, from Leakey, Texas, was already wanted in Georgia at the time on five counts of aggravated assault, and on Texas charges of larceny and theft of more than $2,500.
Hosmer was also arrested following the stop after surveillance video recorded him leaving the truck crash. Also wanted in Texas on larceny and theft charges, he was initially charged in Georgia with possession of methamphetamine, bringing stolen property into the state, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.