BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
A Georgia man involved in a high-speed pursuit with Elmore County deputies early Monday morning committed suicide, according to Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin.
The deceased was identified as Danny Wayne Tarver, 42. His identification showed he was a Georgia resident, but the vehicle involved was from Texas.
Details are limited, but the incident began around 3:15 a.m. Monday with an attempted traffic stop near the Health Department on US 231. Tarver had just left the casino in Wetumpka, and reportedly refused to engage in conversation with the deputy. Tarver became agitated and fled the scene.
The chase, which reached speeds up to 130 mph, eventually ended on McQueen Road on Highway 9 approximately one mile south of Santuck.
Deputies were able to force the vehicle Tarver was driving into a ditch. Tarver then exited on the passenger side and a foot chase began.
Tarver had a gun on him, which he dropped, and then picked it back up running into a brushy area and briars. As deputies surrounded that area, a shot was heard. Tarver was found deceased, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The gun was recovered.
It was found that Tarver had multiple outstanding warrants from other locations.
No further information is available at this time, but it will be investigated by ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigations, per Sheriff Franklin.
