CONYERS, Ga. — A Covington man is facing multiple charges after he reportedly dragged a Conyers police officer while attempting to flee a traffic stop.

The suspect, 55-year-old William Cornelius of Covington, has been charged with aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer, felony fleeing and eluding, obstruction, plus “several traffic related offenses,” per a Jan. 1 news release from the Conyers Police Department (CPD).

According to the release, at approximately 4:17 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2025, Cornelius was pulled over by an unnamed CPD officer who noticed that Cornelius’s vehicle had a brake light out and a tinted license plate cover. Upon making contact, the officer reportedly suspected Cornelius to have been driving under the influence.

“[Cornelius] became non-compliant and started physically resisting,” the release states. “The officer deployed his taser, but Cornelius continued to resist.”

The release further states that Cornelius returned to the driver’s seat of his vehicle. As the officer attempted to remove Cornelius from the seat, he reportedly began to drive the vehicle, dragging the officer. The officer was dragged approximately 35-40 feet before he was able to let go of the vehicle.

The officer was hospitalized, but the release notes that he has since been sent home and is recovering.

Following the incident at the traffic stop, authorities circulated a description of Cornelius’s vehicle and utilized FLOCK cameras to locate it. An unspecified amount of time later, officers located Cornelius’s vehicle.

“Officers pursued Cornelius for a short distance onto I-20 westbound near West Avenue until a precision immobilization technique (PIT) was used to disable Cornelius’s vehicle,” the release states.

Officers arrested Cornelius at the scene without further incident. Cornelius was taken to a nearby hospital for injuries he sustained during the PIT, which the release describes as non-life-threatening.