GSP: Man fatally shot himself following police pursuit

Larry Hobbs, The Brunswick News, Ga.
·3 min read
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Oct. 5—After crashing a vehicle into a utility pole with a Glynn County police officer in pursuit at around midnight Monday, a 35-year-old Brunswick man fatally shot himself in the head with a handgun, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

Joseph Allen Hodge died at the scene of the 12:16 a.m. crash at the intersection of Johnston and Lee streets.

A state trooper responding to the crash said Hodge died of a "self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head," according to the Georgia State Patrol crash report obtained Tuesday by The News. The handgun was located at the scene, the trooper reported.

The state patrol concluded Hodge was likely driving under the influence of alcohol. A trooper observed "numerous" empty and full beer cans and shot-sized liquor bottles inside the 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe that Hodge was driving. The vehicle emitted "a strong odor of alcoholic beverage," the state patrol reported.

The Chevrolet Tahoe was unregistered, the state patrol said. The Georgia license plate affixed to the vehicle was registered to a 2003 Chrysler Town and Country vehicle from Liberty County, the state patrol said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating Hodge's death. His body was taken Monday to the GBI's facility in Pooler for autopsy, said Stacy Carson, agent in charge of the GBI's Kingsland office said.

The Georgia State Patrol investigated the crash.

The Glynn County Police Department's report on the pursuit has not been completed, according to a response to a request for the report submitted Tuesday by The News. The officer involved remains on active duty, Glynn County Police Chief Jacques Battiste said.

Battiste said the GBI's initial assessment of the incident indicated the officer acted according to police guidelines and policy while initiating the traffic stop and while engaging in the resulting pursuit.

County police requested The News not release the name at this time of the officer involved, citing related ongoing investigations with possible street gang connections.

Police declined to release further information, citing the GBI's ongoing investigation.

The officer signaled Hodge for a traffic stop with the Dodge Charger patrol car's lights and sirens, the state patrol said. Hodge attempted to elude the law, heading south on Johnston Street, the state patrol said.

Hodge "was driving recklessly and failed to maintain his lane," the state patrol report said.

Hodge drove through the stop sign where Johnston Street ends at 2nd Street off Altama Avenue, the report said.

The Tahoe slid sideways for 66 feet before the driver's side slammed into a utility pole on the other side of 2nd Street, the report said.

Approaching the crashed vehicle, county officers found Hodge leaning out of the driver's side window with a gunshot to the head, the state patrol report said. The handgun was on the ground nearby, police told the state patrol.

"The investigating trooper was advised (that) first responding (county) units on scene found (Hodge) slumped out of the driver window with a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun found on the ground between the vehicle and the power pole," the state patrol report said.

Police pulled Hodge from the vehicle, laid him on the ground nearby and summoned a county fire-rescue EMS crew, the state patrol report said.

Police told the trooper "the firearm was cleared, secured and placed on the hood of the pursuit patrol car," the report said.