Deputies and members of the Bartow Cartersville Drug Task Force pulled over a vehicle for a drug investigation. However, this prompted the suspect to flee. The police chased him down, and the scene ended in a deadly encounter, leading to the suspect’s death, while the fellow passenger was arrested.
45-year-old Justin Eric Hardin was killed in the police encounter after he opened fire at the officers. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will investigate the encounter that led to his death.
It all began when Drug Task Force officers pulled over Hardin’s car on Tuesday afternoon for a drug investigation, according to a report by CBS News. However, Hardin failed to comply by driving off, prompting the officers to pursue him.
They soon caught up and performed a PIT maneuver on him, forcing him to stop under the overpass at the intersection of Interstate 75 and Highway 20.
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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that while Hardin’s passenger, 44-year-old Angela Green from Acworth, got out of the vehicle and faced arrest, Hardin refused to comply with the officers’ orders by remaining in the car.
Non-Compliance Leads to Exchange of Fire
Hardin was then pepper-sprayed by the deputies in an attempt to get him out of the car. They even broke the driver’s side door of his car. However, the situation escalated when Hardin pointed a firearm at the officers and shot at them.
The officers fired in response, which killed Hardin. A medical examiner from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation will perform an autopsy on Hardin’s body. As for Green, she was arrested and taken to the Bartow County Detention Center.
When Hardin’s car was searched, authorities revealed they found a “large amount of suspected methamphetamine.” Once the Georgia Bureau of Investigation concludes its investigation, the case file will be handed to the Bartow County District Attorney’s Office for review.
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