Local & State Headlines

Suspect accused of assaulting deputy

• A trooper helicopter pilot and a drug agent help deputies corral a suspect in a wooded area.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — An Albany man is in jail after authorities say he assauled a deputy sheriff and causedg a brief, water-logged manhunt.

Dougherty County Sheriff’s Deputy Dean Gore was at the Dollar Inn on North Slappey Boulevard investigating a case when he ran into James Strickland, who he determined was acting strangely.

“He saw this guy acting suspicious, so he ran his information and found out he was wanted for a probation violation,” Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Craig Dodd said. “So he attempted to arrest him and got thrown against a wall.”

In the struggle, Dodd said, Strickland broke free — with one handcuff still on his wrist — and ran into a wooded area behind the motel.

Strickland swam across a small pond towards a nearby creek before trying to hide in a densely wooded area, Dodd said.

Georgia State Patrol pilot Kevin Coalson and an Albany-Dougherty Drug Unit agent, who were already airborne on a different case, flew to the area just off 21st Avenue near the Liberty Expressway to help look for the man.

The helicopter uses Forward Looking Infrared to spot people through brush and at night by honing in on the suspect’s heat signature. During their search Tuesday, Coalson wasn’t able to use the FLIR because of the dense vegetation, but was able to hover above the treeline and direct deputies to Strickland.

Shirtless and wet from his dip in the pond, Strickland was arrested and taken to the Dougherty County Jail just after 2 p.m. Dodd said that Strickland could be facing drug charges, as well as the felony obstruction charges for assaulting Gore.

“It doesn’t make sense to run,” Dodd said. “All he was facing was a probation violation and now his rap sheet has been extended quite a bit.”

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