After being pulled over by Conyers Police for what are considered minor offenses, one man is now facing a felony charge for allegedly assaulting the officer who stopped him.
Conyers police apprehended Patrick Bailey, 32, after he allegedly pulled an officer "several feet" across a parking lot and led police on a car chase, according a police report.
Bailey is now being charged with several offenses, including aggravated assault against law enforcement, simple battery, attempting to elude a police officer and more, for the incident that occurred Saturday afternoon.
According to the police report, Bailey, a resident of Winder, Ga., was originally stopped because the registration on his 1998 Chevrolet Blazer was suspended. The driver-side brake light was out as well.
Officer Christopher Burns stopped Bailey in the parking lot of Wal-Mart, 1436 Dogwood Drive, Conyers, and then approached the vehicle. Burns obtained Bailey's driver license, which was suspended, and ran a background check, which showed Bailey has been wanted by the Braselton Police Department for a probation violation of another traffic offense since Jan. 20.
Burns then returned to the vehicle.
"I observed Bailey's hands began to shake and he started to stutter while talking with me. I asked him to turn the vehicle's engine off. He refused to shut the vehicle's engine off," Burns wrote in the report. "While asking him to turn the vehicle's engine off, the vehicle's engine stopped running and Bailey immediately attempted to restart the vehicle."
Baily allegedly managed to get the vehicle restarted amid Burns' request not to. Once restarted, Bailey transitioned the SUV's gearshift into "drive" allegedly.
"I reached into the vehicle with my left hand in order to place the vehicle back into park. Bailey grabbed my hand and pulled it from the gear shifter," Burns wrote. "He said, ‘What are you doin' bro,' and then proceeded to drive forward. I still had my arm inside the vehicle."
Burns alleges that the vehicle "pulled me several feet from where I had been originally standing." Then, when Burns pulled his arm away from the vehicle, Bailey allegedly drove away from the scene and about a half of a mile down the road traveling at about 55 miles-per-hour "refusing to stop" for police patrol cars, according to the report.
Bailey drove to the Dogwood Flea Market, 1680 Dogwood Drive, Conyers, exited the vehicle and ran into the nearby woods before getting caught about 50 yards into the wooded area, according to the police report.
Bailey is currently in Rockdale County Jail. His other charges are operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, knowingly driving a motor vehicle on suspended license, having no brake lights or working turning signals, disorderly conduct and willful obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
