A 36-year-old Buford man died early Friday following an incident that began when Lumpkin County sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a “suspicious” person in the Publix parking lot in Dahlonega and the sheriff is offering a detailed defense of the deputies’ actions that followed.
Sheriff Stacy Jarrard says once officers arrived the man, later identified as Jacob Carl Wilkerson, began driving erratically and “sped off” toward the north end of the county but deputies were able to make contact with him and take him into custody, but provided no other details. He added that an ambulance was called to the scene, and Wilkerson was taken to a hospital where he died “due to unknown circumstances.”
Jarrard said the GBI was contacted to conduct an independent investigation but declined to do so because there was no “interaction” between Wilkerson and his deputies. “…this incident was captured on bodycam and no foul play was suspected of law enforcement.
We are deeply saddened about the incident… Our agency strives to have respect and integrity for all the individuals that were involved. Please lift this family up in your Prayers that they will receive peace, comfort and guidance during this difficult time.”
The sheriff went on to say the law enforcement officers and the EMS staff did nothing wrong during this incident. It was a sad occurrence that ended with a tragedy. Please continue to pray for all that were involved.”
In a Facebook post separate from the news release, Jarrard also defended not releasing any more about what happened except what was said in a news release, saying “The public does not need every detail of (the) incident…he press release is sent out to educate the public about an incident that has occurred but our main focus is to pray for the family and loved ones of Mr. Wilkerson.”