Deputy out of hospital after assault at North Georgia gas station

A Dawson County sheriff’s deputy was assaulted at a Chevron gas station, the sheriff said.

A Dawson County sheriff’s deputy was assaulted at a Chevron gas station, the sheriff said.

A Dawson County sheriff’s deputy is out of the hospital after a suspect beat him with his fist, officials said.

Deputy Sgt. Randy Harkness, 52, was assaulted after he gave the suspect a courtesy ride to a Dawsonville Chevron gas station at the intersection of Ga. 400 and Ga. 53, Dawson County Sheriff Jeff Johnson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Harkness, who suffered head and face injuries, was in the process of giving the suspect money at the time of the alleged attack.

Johnson said a bystander stopped her car and shot the suspect, who ran to a McDonald’s across the street and assaulted a woman. Her name has not been released.

Other good Samaritans held the man down until deputies arrived on the scene, Channel 2 Action News reported. The suspect was shot at least once, the sheriff said.

Johnson said he is not sure when Harkness initiated contact with the suspect. It is also being investigated if the suspect, whose name has not been released, had an object in his hand at the time of the beating.

Harkness is a 24-year-old veteran of the sheriff’s office.

The woman who was attacked and the suspect were taken to the hospital.

Their conditions have not been released.

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