Off-duty officer charged with reckless driving

CARTERSVILLE - A part-time police officer from the Bartow County town of Kingston has been charged with reckless driving and reckless conduct after an off-duty altercation with a car full of teen-agers. <br> <br> According to the State Patrol, Kirk Neal Burrell chased the car, caused it to spin out and then dragged the driver out at gunpoint, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him. <br> <br> Burrell, 28, of Taylorsville was suspended without pay pending an investigation, Kingston Police Chief Mark Borgschulze said. <br> <br> Patrol Cpl. Keith Shanks said Burrell was in civilian clothes and in his personal car with his wife when a car driven by 19-year-old David Allen Delbrugge of Cartersville cut Burrell&#39;s car off at an intersection in downtown Cartersville. <br> <br> Burrell chased Delbrugge&#39;s car through Cartersville and toward Delbrugge&#39;s parent&#39;s home, Shanks said. <br> <br> ``These kids were scared,&#39;&#39; Shanks said. ``They didn&#39;t know who this guy was. He kept trying to pull beside them and get them to stop, so they were trying to get to their parents&#39; house.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> There were three other teens in the car ranging in age from 15 to 17. <br> <br> As Delbrugge got near his parents&#39; home, Burrell executed what is known to law enforcement officers as a ``pit maneuver,&#39;&#39; in which a police car bumps a fleeing vehicle in the back quarter panel. <br> <br> State Patrol Trooper Christian Ratcliff arrived on the scene, determined what had happened and freed the teen-agers, Shanks said, adding that the charges against Burrell are misdemeanors. <br> <br> Burrell turned himself in Sunday, was booked at Bartow County Jail and posted bail.