Dash camera video contradicts a former Georgia state trooper’s statement that he fatally shot a motorist fearing the man was trying to run him over, an investigator testified in court.
Jacob Thompson is charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the Aug. 7 death of Julian Lewis. Thompson was on duty with the Georgia State Patrol when he tried to pull Lewis over for a broken tail light in rural Screven County. When Lewis refused to stop, the trooper chased him and forced his car into a ditch, then shot Lewis in the head.
Thompson later wrote in his incident report that he shot Lewis as he was revving his engine and turning his steering wheel, as if he was trying trying to ram the trooper. But Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Dustin Peak testified at a preliminary court hearing Monday the evidence contradicts Thompson’s account.
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