Police: Driver Marcus Allen Pitts arrested for shooting suspect fleeing police

A man has been arrested after he shot a suspect fleeing from police, authorities said.

Police say Marcus Allen Pitts, 46, of Covington was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and he is being held at the Newton County Detention Center.

Police say the incident started Saturday morning after officers responding to reports of an SUV being driven recklessly in the area. When officers arrived, they spotted the SUV, but before they could catch up with it, the SUV crashed into a vehicle at a shopping center on Highway 278.

The driver of the SUV, identified as Terence Lennox, 33, got out of the SUV and ran on foot about 100 yards across the parking lot, when Pitts chased him in his truck, blocked him in and shot Lennox in the neck, police said.

Lennox was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition.