SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A police officer is recovering after a man ran him over in a truck, police said.
According to Fairburn police, Officer Levar Sims was hit by a truck early Monday morning near a Holiday Inn on Senoia Road.
Sims underwent surgery to repair a fractured spine.
Fairburn Police released a new image of Sims recovering in the hospital Tuesday. In it, Sims is giving a thumbs up from his hospital bed. Police said doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
#Fairburn Lots of questions about Officer Sims' recovery - we can't tell you how much we appreciate that! Happy to report Officer Sims is recovering well. His doctors are expecting him to make a full recovery. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/QOBCOeZ38D
— Fairburn Police Dept (@FairburnPD) February 5, 2019
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Fairburn police say Sims was one of several canvassing the hotel Monday, making sure no one was breaking into cars, when they saw the suspect asleep in the truck.
Police asked the suspect, identified as Taurean McShan, to get out of the truck to talk to police.
At some point, McShan got back into the truck, and that's when one of the officers tried to remove him from it.
At some point, the officer was knocked out of the truck.
The suspect ran over the officer and drove away, police said.
Hotel guests woke up to the commotion.
"The officer was laying right here, and the ambulance picked him up and took him off," said witness Robert Sullivan.
Channel 2's Christian Jennings got a photo of the suspect from police.
NEW INFO JUST IN: Fairburn police just gave me this picture of 27-year-old Taurean McShan. He’s the suspect accused of running over an officer this morning. That officer is in the hospital. pic.twitter.com/DfLXThk3sA
— Christian Jennings (@CJenningsWSB) February 4, 2019
McShan is from Memphis, Tennessee, police said. Police said the officers smelled alcohol and marijuana inside McShan's truck.
Police were looking for a 2019 burgundy Ford F-250 and later found it in Tyrone. The truck was rented in the Memphis area, according to Fairburn police.
Jennings learned that the officer is out of surgery. He suffered a fractured spine, police said.
BREAKING: the @FairburnPD officer who was run over in a hit and run this morning, is in surgery now. He’s expected to survive, but his injuries are critical. I’ll have another LIVE report at 6:30. We are staying in constant contact with police
— Christian Jennings (@CJenningsWSB) February 4, 2019
Breaking: I just got this picture of Fairburn Police officer Levar Sims who was run over by a suspect he was investigating. Officer Sims just got out of surgery and has a fractured spine. Suspect still on the run. The latest at noon. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/cRnYLRLa9O
— Tom Jones (@TomJonesWSBTV) February 4, 2019
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