Tumultuous events continued Friday for Polk County police Chief Kenny Dodd when his car was rear-ended while he was on his way to work, according to a report.
Dodd was heading westbound on U.S. 278 when he saw a mother and child walking along the road, Polk County Public Safety Director Randy Lacey told northwestgeorgianews.com (subscription site).
Dodd turned around to offer them a ride, but while he was talking to them, a truck hit Dodd’s vehicle, which knocked it off the road, Lacey said.
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Dodd was responsive and awake when he was taken to a hospital in the Rome area, the news website reported. The mother and child weren’t injured.
The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the crash.
The driver of the truck, 59-year-old Wallace Parsons, was charged with following too closely and failing to move over for an emergency vehicle, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Dodd had his emergency lights on while he was pulled over, according to investigators.
Last week, one of Dodd’s officers, Detective Kristen Hearne, was shot and killed after she and another Polk officer answered a stolen-car call out of Tennessee. A former state prisoner, Seth Brandon Spangler, is charged in connection with Hearne’s death.
Also, dogfighting charges have been filed against the main suspect in an animal-cruelty case involving 100-plus dogs in Polk County.
Devecio Ranard Rowland, 32, is facing 70 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals after Dodd’s department found dogs tied up to trees at a foreclosed residence.
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