DALTON, Ga. (AP) — A Texas fugitive who shot a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop last year, prompting a massive manhunt in the woods, has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Superior Court Judge Jim Wilbanks on Tuesday sentenced Dalton Lee Potter, 29, on numerous charges, including aggravated assault on a peace officer, The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
Potter was hauling explosives in a stolen trailer in northwest Georgia when deputies pulled him over on Sept. 6.
Potter fired several shots at Deputy Darrell Hackney and hit him once in the back, but authorities said the deputy’s ballistic vest took the brunt of the shot. Hackney was treated and released that same night, Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood said.
Hackney and another deputy returned fire, but Potter fled south on Interstate 75. He wrecked the truck and escaped into the woods on foot, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. He was arrested after a three-day manhunt in Resaca, where he’s also accused of shooting a resident.
Resaca is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of Atlanta, and about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from the city of Dalton, where the deputy was shot.
Bert Poston, the district attorney for the Conasauga Judicial Circuit, said Potter has pending charges in Gordon County including another aggravated assault charge and pending charges in Texas.
A second Texas man, Jonathan Hosmer, 47, was also arrested in September after surveillance video recorded him leaving the scene of the truck crash. It’s unclear why the truck was carrying explosives.