A Fairburn police officer run over by a hit-and-run driver Monday morning is recovering from a spinal fracture, Channel 2 Action News reported.
The officer, Levar Sims, was recovering Tuesday after surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital, police said. He was injured about 2 a.m. Monday when 33-year-old Tauren McShan allegedly drove over him while trying to get away from a Holiday Inn Express on Senoia Road.
Sims and another officer were on a routine patrol of the parking lot when they encountered McShan, Fairburn Deputy Chief Anthony Bazydlo told Channel 2.
“They were checking on all the hotels in the area, especially with Super Bowl weekend, wanting to make sure that the cars weren’t getting broken into,” he said.
They saw McShan sleeping in a pickup, and Bazydlo said they thought they smelled alcohol and marijuana.
Hotel surveillance video obtained by Channel 2 shows the officers speaking with McShan outside his truck before he jumped back in and tried to drive away, dragging Sims along with him. Sims was pinned between the pickup and a box truck before he fell under the pickup’s back wheels, Bazydlo told the news station.
“The officer somehow ended up getting pushed back into the truck and falling onto the ground,” he said. “As the suspect drove off, those back tires ran over the officer.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
After the incident, the truck was found abandoned near Peggy Lane in Tyrone, a few miles south of the hotel. Officers and K-9 units searched the area for McShan but were unsuccessful.
According to investigators, McShan’s truck was rented in the Memphis, Tenn., area, and he could be headed in that direction.
McShan has two active warrants for his arrest on drug charges out of Shelby County, Tenn., according to news reports in Memphis.
His criminal history dates back to 2004, and most of the charges are related to drugs or weapons, news stations report. He was arrested in 2017 after a narcotics bust at his Frayser, Tenn., home, according to records.
Anyone with information about McShan or his whereabouts is asked to call 911.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Sims with some of his financial burdens. It had raised more than $2,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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