New details on injured deputy, suspect accused of ramming car

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A 19-year-old has been charged with carjacking a vehicle and leading officers on a chase that seriously injured a deputy in a crash.

It all unfolded around 1:15 p.m. Thursday at Gordon Highway and Bayvale Road, nearly three hours after Omarion Rayshawn Steward and another person had carjacked a 2014 Toyota Camry several miles away, according to authorities.

Once deputies learned where the car was, they took off after it in a high-speed chase that culminated in the stolen car ramming a police car that was ultimately also hit by another law enforcement car.

The whole incident left Deputy Christopher Brown with injuries to his pelvis, arms, jaw, leg and other parts of his body, according to organizers of a GoFundme campaign to benefit Brown.

Steward was arrested two days later, and he remains in Richmond County jail on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer, armed robbery, carjacking - other weapon, and possession of a firearm or knife during a crime, according to jail records.

The crime spree began around 10:30 a.m. Thursday when the Camry was stolen at 500 Caldwell Drive, according to arrest warrants.

The victim said Steward arranged a meeting to conduct a transaction. Upon arriving at the location, Steward got in the front enger seat, according to arrest warrants. At the same time, another person approached, pointing a gun at the victim and cursing.

The victim got out of the car and ran, then Steward and the armed person took off in the car, according to arrest warrants.

Later, Brown and deputies learned where the car was and tried to recover it in what witnesses described as a high-speed pursuit.

According to the incident report, Brown assisted in the traffic stop on the stolen vehicle, which pulled into a parking lot on the 1600 block of Gordon Highway.

The vehicle stopped briefly and then accelerated from the parking lot towards Brown’s vehicle, causing the front right side of the stolen vehicle to strike the front right side of Brown’s county issued vehicle, the incident report says.

At least two officers, including Brown in an apparently unmarked Impala and Nicholas Boyd, in a marked Charger, were involved. There were 14 Richmond County Sheriff’s Office vehicles at the scene after the crash.

Steward is accused of ramming a law enforcement Impala around 1:15 p.m. after deputies had possibly cornered the Camry in a parking lot.

But the pursuit apparently didn’t end there because at 1:20 p.m., Brown’s car and the marked Charger collided while they were both chasing the stolen vehicle, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

GSP says both law enforcement vehicles were traveling west on Gordon Highway when the Charger transitioned to the right lane and tried to make a U-turn.

The Impala, traveling in the left lane, slammed into the left side of the Charger, according to GSP.

Boyd, the driver of the Charger, said he’d wanted to turn right on Bayvale but overshot it and was trying to get back to it.

According to GSP, four people were taken to a hospital after the incident, including Boyd and Brown.

Brown’s injuries were apparently the most severe.

Brown has been with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office since 2010, according to state accreditation records, having served as a jail officer, jailer, peace officer, deputy and investigator.

READ DEPUTY’S ACCREDITATION FILE:

He is a veteran, having served in the Army, where he was injured in Afghanistan, according to organizers of the GoFundMe campaign.

There’s no word on the status of the other suspect in the carjacking.

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