On March 22, Henry County Chief of Police, Keith Nichols, honored John Goodson and Jonathan Scott with a Chief's Commendation Award for their role in assisting a police officer.

Henry County Police Sergeant W. Honea, John Goodson, Henry County Police Chief Keith Nichols, and Jonathan Scott.                                                            Special photo

  Sergeant W. Honea, on patrol in the McDonough area Sunday, March 11th, observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed.  With the intention of stopping the vehicle to merely issue a warning and asking the driver to slow down, the Henry County sergeant quickly found himself in a fight for his life.  With the vehicle stopped, the passenger became extremely nervous and began talking back to the sergeant, reaching into his pockets.  The situation escalated into a fight and then foot pursuit and back into a fight.

  The fight, which was said to have lasted approximately 5 minutes, stopped traffic in both directions on McDonough Parkway.

  While all of the cars had stopped, John Goodson and Jonathan Scott exited their vehicles and ran to assist Sergeant Honea.  “You never know who is on your side,” said Sergeant Honea. “I did not know if they were coming to help me or help them.”  Goodson and Scott observed the fight and noted that one of the brothers was reaching for the officer’s duty belt.  The two men helped hold the suspects down until they could be handcuffed.

  Elizabeth ‘BJ’ Mathis, Henry County Board of Commissioners Chairman, thanked Goodson and Scott and said, "I feel that they represent the majority of the citizens of Henry County."

  Both Goodson and Scott were awarded the Chief’s Commendation for their assistance in apprehension of the suspects and placing themselves in harm’s way in order to help the sergeant.