Byron officer under investigation after shooting man evading police, GBI reports

A Byron police officer is under investigation after he shot and injured a north Georgia man trying to evade police in a stolen car Monday afternoon, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

Kory Matyas Karpich, 37, of Gainesville, Ga., was treated in a Macon hospital after an officer shot him multiple times during the confrontation, according to a GBI news release.

Karpich faces several charges, including methamphetamine possession, theft and fleeing from an officer after he led police on a chase from Peach County to Bibb County, the GBI said Tuesday.

No officers were injured.

The GBI did not name the officer involved in the incident who is under investigation or Karpich’s condition Tuesday. A release on Monday said Karpich is expected to recover.

On Monday afternoon, the officer spotted an unattended 2018 Volkswagen at McDonald’s on Highway 49 in Byron, off Interstate 75, the release read. The vehicle had been reported stolen from Atlanta earlier in the day, the release said.

As the officer approached the car, Karpich came out of McDonald’s and got into the Volkswagen.

The officer told Karpich to get out of the car, according to the release, but he did not. Police said Karpich continued not to follow commands to get out of the car, so the officer broke a window and used his Taser on him.

The Taser was “ineffective,” the news release said, and Karpich started driving, hitting both the McDonald’s building and the officer’s police car, according to the release.

The officer then shot into the Volkswagen multiple times and hit Karpich, who drove away and led police on a chase into Bibb County, according to the news release.

Karpich eventually crashed in Bibb County to end the chase.