By Marcus K. Garner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DEKALB, Ga. — A former DeKalb County police officer faces criminal charges for striking and killing a pedestrian in May as he sped to the scene of a fatal shooting.
Jason A. Cooper was fired on July 25 after his police vehicle struck Clifton Hightower on the night of May 14 as Cooper rushed to join the chase of a murder suspect who was fleeing the Starlight Drive-In on Moreland Avenue.
Both DeKalb Police officials and the Georgia Police Officers Standards and Training Council, the state’s police regulating body, confirmed Cooper’s termination on Monday.
The DeKalb County Solicitor General’s Office on Monday forwarded its case against Cooper to the DeKalb District Attorney’s Office to review for possible felony charges, solicitor’s spokeswoman Terrie Clark told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Should the DA’s office reject the case, the solicitor’s office will prosecute it for misdemeanor charges.
Hightower, 28, was crossing Memorial Drive on that May night as police hurried to help catch Quentric Shaymond Williams, who is accused of fatally shooting Mitt Lenix during a show at the movie theater and was fleeing the scene, police said.
Lenix’s parents have since started a scholarship fund in their son’s name, and they donated $1,000 to Hightower’s family.
Cooper could not be reached for comment.
Copyright 2012 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution