Georgia Cop Lies About Hitting Suspect with His Car. Dashcam Says Different. Gets Fired Anyway! [WAT

An Athens, Georgia police officer has found himself unemployed and facing possible charges after hitting a fleeing suspect with his police cruiser and then lying about it.

The officer in question is Taylor Saulters and he's accused of ramming his service vehicle into Timmy Patmon.

According to reports:

"In the video Patmon can be seen trying to run away as Saulters closes the distance between them with his car.

Saulters then turns left, trying to block Patmon, but misses and runs into a Stop sign.

As Patmon continues to run down the street, Saulters turns his car to the right and then rams straight into him.

Patmon rolls onto the hood of the car and falls to the pavement, to the shock of numerous witnesses."

Check out the video.

"As Saulters and his partner, officer Hunter Blackmon, put Patmon in handcuffs, a woman screams 'You just hit that man, oh my god'.'You didn't have to hit that man like that,' she yells. The footage also shows Saulters threatening to use a Taser on Patmon while he is already on the ground and being detained by Blackmon.'Give us your hands now, or you're gonna get Tased,' Saulters says. 'Do you understand me? Make the right decision.'

(Saulters on the left)

"Later in the footage, Saulters can be heard telling other officers that he didn't hit Patmon with his car.

'I didn't hit him with the car, I blocked him with the car,' Saulters says.

'He ran into the hood of my car and bounced off.'

Saulters later claimed he had tried to stop his car but couldn't because of a flat tire.

The officer was immediately suspended following the incident. He was fired the next morning.

'After reviewing the officers’ body camera footage, and all the other facts and circumstances of this case, Chief Scott Freeman terminated the employment of Officer Taylor Saulters,' the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in a statement.

Patmon was taken to the hospital after the incident and suffered 'scrapes and bruises'.

He was taken into custody after being released from the hospital. "

Thank God for cameras! If it weren't for this footage Saulters would have gotten off scott-free like so many others. Well. . . actually. . . folks are getting off when footage exists too.