VARNELL, Ga. — A Tennessee man who Varnell Police Chief Lyle Grant said tried to run over a police officer and was shot when that officer fired into the vehicle remains in a Chattanooga hospital. An agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the man was shot in the hand during the incident.

Aaron Patrick Brumlow of Soddy-Daisy was arrested by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office after a chase which began in Varnell early Friday morning and roamed through Cohutta and Catoosa County, ending with an officer using a PIT (pursuit intervention technique) maneuver in Tunnel Hill that forced the vehicle into a ditch. Grant had written Friday in a press release posted to the police department’s Facebook page that Officer Scott Swilley fired his weapon after Swilley tried to block Brumlow’s Toyota Camry on a dead end street in Cohutta. The release did not say whether the suspect was struck by a bullet.

“The suspect vehicle driver then made evasive maneuvers to escape, turning his vehicle into a weapon to be used against Officer Swilley in his attempt to escape,” Grant wrote. “The suspect driver came within inches of striking Officer Swilley, at which time our officer, in fear for his life, discharged his service firearm towards the vehicle driver’s compartment.”

It is unknown what charges Brumlow will face since he had not been booked into the Whitfield County jail as of Monday afternoon and an incident report was not available. Varnell City Manager Mike Brown said Swilley was to be in City Hall on Monday afternoon to write up an incident report. 

Capt. Rick Swiney with the Whitfield sheriff’s office said he did not know when Brumlow would be booked into the jail. 

“We are just waiting on Varnell to bring him to us,” Swiney said.

Grant wrote in the press release that Swilley has been placed on administrative leave and the GBI is investigating.

Brown said he did not know the extent of Brumlow’s injuries other than to say there was a hand injury. Messages left for Grant on Friday and Monday were not returned by Monday evening. Brown said he wasn’t certain how Brumlow sustained his injuries. 

“His hand was bleeding,” Brown said. “We don’t know if it is from a gunshot or from glass. There was conflicting stories. The officer will be coming in today to (write up the incident report). The GBI will return on Wednesday and we are waiting on the official report from them.”

GBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Ramey of the Calhoun office said Brumlow was undergoing surgery on Monday at Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga to repair a gunshot wound to the hand. Ramey said “multiple” shots were fired by Swilley.

Grant wrote the incident started around 5 a.m. on Friday when Swilley responded to a shoplifting call at the Circle K convenience store at the corner of Cleveland Highway and Georgia Highway 2. Grant said a chase ensued which reached speeds of up to 120 miles per hour with the Camry twice going airborne over railroad crossings. After shooting at the car, Swilley lost contact with the Camry and it was later spotted by sheriff’s deputies. 

Ramey said Swilley was equipped with a body camera but there was no video of the chase or the shooting.

“He had a body cam, but apparently when he tried to get it to work, he mashed the buttons in the wrong order,” Ramey said. “So, yes, there was a body camera, but no, there isn’t any video. I’m not worried about that. You put yourself in that position and making sure your body cam is working is way down there on the list of things you are doing. I can totally see that.”

Grant wrote that Brumlow was on state felony probation in Tennessee. According to the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts office, Brumlow was indicted earlier this year in April on charges of aggravated assault, evading arrest, reckless endangerment, driving on a revoked license and a seat belt violation. According to Hamilton County arrest records from January of 2016, Brumlow was arrested on aggravated burglary and theft of property charges.

“There have been issues with him in the past,” Ramey said. “He isn’t just an individual who came down to Georgia and police are pulling him over for no reason. If folks would obey the law and do what they are supposed to do, officers would not be put into that position.”

Two females were in the vehicle with Brumlow, Swiney said, and neither was injured.