GA Deputy Hit, Killed By Police Car During Chase Into AL

COWETA COUNTY — A Coweta County deputy died early Thursday after being hit by a police car during a chase that crossed into Alabama, the Coweta County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.

Authorities said they were chasing a suspected stolen vehicle across state lines when Deputy Sheriff Eric Minix was hit by a police car. He was pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said.

Minix was a K9 officer for the sheriff's office, authorities said.

" ... but more importantly, he was a friend to everyone who knew him. Eric leaves behind a loving wife and three daughters. We have lost a good deputy. We have lost a good man. We have lost a good friend," authorities said in the post.

The accident happened after Alabama officers laid sticks in the roadway to stop the alleged stolen car, after which Minix stopped behind the car, Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Wood said Minix got out of his patrol car to give orders, and while he was standing outside of the car, an Alabama officer doing a PIT maneuver hit Minix.

"He was very much loved," Wood said. "He was a friend, a father, a son, a brother, and most of all, he was a law-enforcement officer first. That's all he wanted to do."

The vehicle authorities were chasing was stolen out of Douglas County, Wood said.

Minix originally joined the sheriff's office in 2014 before leaving to work for the Tyrone Police Department for about five years, later returning to the sheriff's office, Wood said.

"What these men and women do every day, it's dangerous," Wood said. "I ask that you pray for him and his family, for our family, the Coweta Sheriff's Office family ... and all the officers involved ..."

Minix is the second Georgia deputy to die in the line of duty in the past week.

Sgt. Marc McIntyre, who was 55-years-old and with the Spalding County Sheriff's Office, was shot and killed late Friday morning during a welfare check in Griffin, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The GBI said Todd Harper, 57, was arrested and charged on suspicion of murder in connection with McIntyre's death. Harper was booked into the Spalding County Jail, the GBI said.

A memorial service for McIntyre is planned for 1 p.m. Friday at Griffin First Assembly of God.

Details of a funeral for Minix was unknown late Thursday morning.