A hit-and-run suspect accused of running over a Fairburn police officer Monday morning was arrested in Tennessee on Thursday, authorities said.
Taurean McShan, 33, was arrested in Memphis by the U.S. Marshals Task Force, the agency said in a news release. He was found in the 3000 block of Brompton Road, where he allegedly ran away and hid on a rooftop before being arrested.
Officer Levar Sims is recovering at Grady Memorial Hospital from a spinal fracture because of the incident, AJC.com previously reported. He was injured around 2 a.m. Monday when McShan allegedly drove over him while trying to get away from authorities at a Holiday Inn Express on Senoia Road.
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“The Fairburn Police Department is very pleased to learn that (McShan) is in custody,” Fairburn police said in a news release. “Officer Sims continues to recover, and his heath and well-being are still our primary concern.”
Credit: Fairburn Police Department
Credit: Fairburn Police Department
Sims and another officer were on a routine patrol of the parking lot to check for any car break-ins when they encountered McShan, police previously said. McShan was sleeping in a pickup truck, and he’s accused of smelling like alcohol and marijuana.
Hotel surveillance video obtained by Channel 2 Action News shows the officers speaking with McShan outside his truck before he jumped back in and tried to drive away, appearing to drag Sims. Sims was pinned between the pickup and a box truck before he fell under the pickup’s back wheels, which ran him over.
The truck was later found abandoned near Peggy Lane in Tyrone, which is a few miles south of the hotel. Officers and K-9 units searched the area for McShan but were unsuccessful. However, investigators said McShan’s truck was rented in the Memphis area, which is where he was arrested.
McShan also had two active warrants for his arrest on drug charges out of Shelby County, Tenn., according to news reports in Memphis.
His criminal history dates to 2004, and most of the charges are related to drugs or weapons, according to reports. He was arrested in 2017 after a narcotics bust at his Frayser, Tenn., home, according to records.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Sims with some of his financial burdens. It had raised more than $3,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
McShan remains in the Shelby County Detention Center awaiting extradition to Fulton County.
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