Duty Death: Ivorie Klusmann - [DeKalb County]
End of Service: 10/08/2013
By Bo Emerson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County police officer responding to a call early Saturday morning was killed in a single-car accident, according to DeKalb Police.
Around 2:45 a.m. Saturday Officer Ivorie Klusmann’s police vehicle left the road near the intersection of DeKalb Medical Parkway and Heritage Park Trail and struck a tree. Klusmann was pronounced dead at the scene, according to DeKalb spokeswoman Mekka Parish.
And, on Saturday DeKalb officers arrested Gregory Lee Harvey, Jr, 27, who they identify as the suspect who fled from Klusmann.
He turned himself in to DeKalb investigators at his Stone Mountain home. Harvey faces charges of felony murder, reckless driving and theft by receiving a motor vehicle.
Officials said it was around 2 a.m. Saturday when Klusmann pulled over a driver during a traffic stop near Snapfinger Woods Drive. The officer took the driver’s information and went back to his patrol car, when the suspect fled.
Klusmann pursued the driver for a short distance until the chase was called off. A short time later another police officer in the area notified dispatchers that he spotted the suspect driver. Klusmann was on his way to that location when the wreck occurred.
Harvey was driving a red Jeep Cherokee stolen from Henry County when he was first stopped. The car was later recovered in Rockdale County, according to authorities.
Klusmann, a 32-year-old father of two children, has been with the DeKalb County Police Department since October of last year and worked in the East Precinct. He graduated from the police academy in April.
Copyright 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution