Updated: Man arrested for running over Emanuel County deputy

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Updated: 7:11 PM Oct 22, 2009 Updated: Man arrested for running over Emanuel County deputy It was a traffic stop that went wrong. A deputy was run over as he was making a DUI arrest. Now the deputy is recovering in Augusta and the suspected drunk driver is locked up behind bars. Posted: 6:32 PM Oct 22, 2009 Reporter: Katie Beasley Email Address: katie.beasley@wrdw.com

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News 12 at 6 o'clock, October 22, 2009

EMANUEL CTY, Ga.--- It was a traffic stop that went wrong. A deputy was run over as he was making a DUI arrest. Now the deputy is recovering in Augusta and the suspected drunk driver is locked up behind bars.

Patrick Kersey was arrested after a more than a 12-hour statewide manhunt. Kersey's accused of running down Emanuel County Deputy Daniel Moxley--a deputy he'd run into before.

It was a routine arrest that nearly turned deadly last night. Deputy Moxley was run over while trying to make a traffic stop. The driver, Patrick Kersey, took off, and was later arrested near Savannah.

"This could have been two lives destroyed," said Emanuel County Sheriff J. Tyson Stephens. "It's going to be one life destroyed. He's going to be looking at a lot of hard time."

This is not Kersey's first run-in with the law. "He was unfortunately a frequent flyer with our department," said Sheriff Stephens.

The sheriff says Kersey has been arrested for DUI and disorderly conduct. He says he and Deputy Moxley were no strangers.

"He knew Mr. Kersey, and Mr. Kersey knew him, and he drove off and left him laying there," said Sheriff Stephens.

GBI agents say things immediately got out of hand when Deputy Moxley granted Kersey a favor.

"The guy asked if he could roll the windows up in the truck, and they turned towards the truck, and he bolted in the truck, cranked it up and took off," said GBI Special Agent Greg Harvey.

That quick decision, the sheriff admits, was not a good one for a deputy with about 15 years of law enforcement experience.

"That was a mistake, and we readily admit that. He knew him. He thought he could trust him to roll his windows up," said Sheriff Stephens.

Investigators had no idea what direction Kersey might head, so the search quickly became a state-wide manhunt with agencies all over pitching in.

"Among police officers, they always realize the same thing can happen to you," said Special Agent Harvey. "They take it personally when these kinds of things happen, and they wanna see the bad guys caught."

The U.S. Marshal's fugitive squad were the ones who located and arrested Kersey, in Effingham County. Now he's being charged with with felony aggravated assault on a peace officer.

As of Thursday night, Deputy Moxley was in fair condition at a hospital in Augusta. We're told he suffered a broken leg and nose and spent some of the day in surgery, but he is expected to make a full recovery.

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