Deputy commended for attempts to save lives in fatal McMinn County police chase

8 hours ago

Nick Hill,

SWEETWATER, Tenn. (WDEF)- We have an update on a fatal crash in McMinn County Saturday.

According to District Attorney Stephen Hatchett, the Sweetwater Police Department in Monroe County detected a stolen truck out of Georgia.

Officers attempted to stop the truck but the driver evaded police.

That truck was spotted again after running a car off the road, and another chase was initiated, where that truck attempted to strike an officer according to Hatchett.

The truck drove out of sight of officers again when officers discovered the driver had struck a van with two adults inside head on, causing a fiery crash on Highway 68 in McMinn County.

Both of those victims, along with the suspect fleeing police, died in the crash.

Hatchett says the suspect had a felony warrant out of the state of Georgia and there was a stolen firearm in the truck.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is currently reconstructing the nature of the crash.

McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy added that he recommended for commendations a McMinn Sheriff’s Deputy for his actions in the attempt to save the lives of the victims in the van.

Sheriff Guy stated of the actions of Deputy Kelby Liner:

“After receiving statements from others at the scene and reviewing Deputy Kelby Liner’s body camera, it is clear his efforts were far and above the call of duty. Deputy Liner’s body camera shows him immediately leap into action. He first deployed a pressurized water can, which by the way is a piece of equipment he purchased himself, and gave the Sweetwater Officer a fire extinguisher. Deputy Liner is also a trained volunteer firefighter, and he immediately began extinguishing the fire in the victim’s vehicle while directing others responders on what to do. As a local fire truck arrived, Liner took a hose from the fire truck himself and continued to fight the blaze that was consuming both vehicles. Deputy Liner continued to show leadership in taking command and exposed himself to injury from fire and debris as he did so. He was finally able to extinguish the fire to a point that he was able to open the passenger door of the victims vehicle, and assisted by a Sweetwater Officer, Liner removed one of the victims from the fire so that life saving measures could be attempted by the other Sweetwater officers who had responded. He then continued to battle the blaze and do all he could for the other two persons involved… The words heroic and unbelievable were used several times, and after watching the camera footage, I would agree. One of the other officers said it best, if anyone could have possibly been saved, the efforts of Deputy Liner would have made that possible. He did all he could, and then he did even more. Our deputies have done some very heroic things over the years, risking their lives in arrests, rescuing victims in two separate tornado incidents, but this was the single most act of brave effort I’ve ever seen.”

Both Sheriff Guy and Attorney General Hatchett say they are praying for the families of the two victims.

No identities have been released.