An Augusta man died a week after he attempted to flee from a traffic stop, struggled with Richmond County sheriff’s deputies during his arrest and was critically injured before he could be booked into jail, according to the GBI.
Jermaine M. Jones Jr., 24, was placed under arrest Oct. 11 when he ran from a traffic stop around 10:30 a.m., GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in a news release. As Jones ran, deputies hit him in the back with a Taser. He struggled as multiple deputies tried to detain him before he was arrested.
“While on the way to the Richmond County Jail, Jones experienced symptoms requiring medical treatment,” Miles said.
Further details about Jones’ injuries were not released by authorities, but he was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Jones remained there for nearly a week before he died Monday, Miles confirmed.
The Richmond sheriff’s office has requested the GBI to open an investigation into the incident, which began when deputies stopped a dark SUV for having a tinted license plate cover, the Augusta Chronicle reported. Stopped near the intersection of Highland Avenue and Clifton Street, the SUV was driven by Jones’ uncle while his father sat in the front passenger seat and Jones sat in the back.
Jones’ uncle consented to a search of the SUV that was carried out by a deputy and her K-9 partner, according to the Chronicle. The deputies found a 9 mm Glock 26 handgun under the right rear passenger seat, after which Jones ran from the SUV, the incident report said. As Jones fled, he was hit with the Taser and became involved with the pursuing deputies in what the incident report described as “a brief struggle.”
Once Jones had been detained, the incident report says he suffered a medical emergency on the way to the jail, the Chronicle reported. He was taken to the hospital with serious head trauma. Two days later, he was declared brain dead, his family told the newspaper.
The deputies involved remain on active duty, the sheriff’s office told the Chronicle.
Prior to his death, Jones was charged with one felony count of possession of a firearm by a first offender and one misdemeanor count of obstruction, according to the GBI.
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