North Carolina officials announced Friday they found no probable cause for criminal charges against the Habersham County sheriff’s deputy involved in an officer-involved shooting in Macon County, N.C., earlier this year.
Ashley H. Welch of the district attorney’s office issued a press release Friday with the findings of its review of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation probe of the non-fatal shooting that occurred on April 7.
“In conducting our review, we have considered the entirety of the investigative file, including the events which occurred in Georgia immediately preceding the initiation of the pursuit which ended with the shooting in Macon County; the dash camera video recordings of the chase; the radio traffic and 9-1-1 calls; witness interviews, including the injured driver and the officers involved; the traffic crash report and the crime scene search,” Welch’s release states.
The incident began in Clarkesville as a pursuit of a stolen vehicle driven by Austin Tyler Thomason, 24. That pursuit lasted 22 minutes and traveled about 35 miles, with the top speed in Georgia reaching 132 mph.
“Our review does not include review of events which occurred in Georgia, nor does it include the propriety of the pursuit, and our office expresses no opinion in that regard,” Welch’s statement reads.
The car driven by Thomason crashed about 1.4 miles north of the state line, at the intersection of U.S. 441 and Tryphosa Road.
At that point, Thomason used his vehicle to assault officers, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety said at the time.
“Thomason was at the wheel of the stolen car when he was shot by Habersham County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Kent,” Welch’s statement reads. “After a thorough review of all the evidence in this case, we have determined that probable cause does not exist for any criminal charges under North Carolina law against Deputy Kent or any other officer.”
The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office and its deputies cooperated with the investigation, Welch’s statement reads.
Thomason is charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, fugitive from justice, theft by receiving stolen property, fleeing or attempting to elude police officer, passing in a no-passing zone, driving on wrong side of undivided street, failure to maintain lane, driving while license suspended or revoked, reckless driving, and failure to stop for stop sign.
Thomason is wanted out of Greenville County, S.C., on unrelated charges.
