A Jones County sheriff’s deputy’s bulletproof vest saved him from injury when a Snellville man shot at him Sunday morning, the sheriff said in a Facebook post.
“Early this morning I got that call that I hoped and prayed would never get,” Sheriff R.N. “Butch” Reece wrote after learning one of his deputies had been shot during a traffic stop in the northern part of the county just northeast of Macon.
“Deputy John Kile was shot but fortunately was hit in his bulletproof vest which saved his life,” Reece wrote. The deputy was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.
Zachary Lucas Olivar, 24, was arrested following a pursuit in which deputies used stop sticks, or tire spikes, to stop him. He is charged with aggravated assault on a peace officer and is being held at the local jail without bond, according to the sheriff’s office.
“On a personal note to the families of any law enforcement officers, please make sure your loved one wears their bulletproof vest. It can make all the difference in the world, it certainly did today,” Reece wrote.
