Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a man accused of running over and seriously injuring a Clayton County police officer in 2012.
Clayton County police said Thomas Paige was attempting a burglary in the parking lot of an abandoned Kmart distribution center on Old Dixie Highway on Dec. 12, 2012.
When Officer Michael Hooks and another officer responded to the scene, a pickup truck allegedly driven by Paige hit Hooks.
Clayton police spokeswoman JaQuitta Williams said Hooks, who had recently returned to work after fighting stage three cancer, sustained severe head injuries.
A week later, police arrested Paige, now 38, of Hampton, and charged him with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, obstruction of an officer, hit-and-run, reckless driving and loitering.
Paige and another man, 34-year-old Jabari Jackson, were allegedly trying to steal metal, according to police.
Hooks has recovered from his injuries, “and has been back on the job for a few months,” Williams said.
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