The officer suffered scrapes and impact injuries before police arrested Destinee Riggins following an hourslong search across the Covington area.
COVINGTON, Ga. — A Covington police officer who was hospitalized after being dragged by a fleeing car during an Aug. 14 traffic stop has recovered and returned to duty, according to local reporting, while the woman police identified as the driver faces multiple criminal allegations stemming from an encounter that began with a Walmart shoplifting call.
The officer’s recovery provides the clearest outcome so far for one part of a case that unfolded across several locations in and around Covington in a matter of hours. Police said the episode started about 4:30 p.m., when officers responded to a report of shoplifting at a Walmart on Industrial Drive. By the time officers arrived, the suspected shoplifter had left. An officer then spotted the vehicle believed to be connected to the report as it entered a nearby QuikTrip on Highway 142, setting up the traffic stop that would leave him injured and trigger a wider search.
People at the gas station saw the encounter change suddenly. Andrew Phillips told Atlanta News First that the officer appeared to speak with the driver for roughly a minute before the vehicle took off. Another witness, Taylor Bowman, later described seeing emergency workers place the officer on a gurney. The witness accounts came before body-camera footage gave the public a closer view of the exchange at the driver’s window and the moment the car accelerated.
The recording shows the officer directing the driver, identified by police as Destinee Riggins, to put the car in park. She responds that it is already in park. Moments later, the vehicle moves away while the officer is positioned at the window. Detective Daniel Seals said the officer had been reaching into the vehicle in an attempt to stop Riggins when it accelerated. The officer can be heard reacting as he is carried along with the moving car before eventually coming off the vehicle.
Authorities and news organizations used different estimates for the distance in the first days after the incident. Initial police accounts described the officer as being dragged several hundred yards, while later reports based on the body-camera video described a distance of more than 100 yards. The sources agree on the basic sequence: The vehicle accelerated with the officer at the window, continued through or around the QuikTrip property and eventually separated from him, leaving the officer injured on the ground.
His response after the fall became part of investigators’ account of how quickly the search began. Seals said the officer was in obvious pain and out of breath but immediately radioed other officers about what had happened. WSB-TV reported that bystanders came to help him and that he was still holding the driver’s license from the stop. That meant police had identifying information even as the suspect vehicle left the scene. Backup officers arrived while medical personnel prepared to take the officer to a hospital.
The officer was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital in stable condition. Police described injuries that included scrapes, bruises, bumps and impact-related pain. He was released and initially recovered at home. Atlanta News First later reported that he had recovered and was back at work, a significant update from the first evening, when the public information available focused on his hospitalization and the continuing search for the driver. Police have not publicly named the officer in the news reports reviewed for this story.
While the officer was being treated, police followed the movements of the vehicle. Investigators said Riggins abandoned the car after leaving the QuikTrip. Atlanta News First reported that some of her relatives later picked it up and were stopped by officers. Police then used surveillance footage related to the location where the car had been retrieved as part of the effort to trace Riggins. Authorities said they were trying to determine whether the relatives knew she was wanted when they became involved with the vehicle. No charges against those relatives had been announced in the reporting reviewed.
The search ended later that evening when officers arrested Riggins at an apartment complex in Covington. Early reports said she was found at a complex on Highway 36, with one account placing the arrest at about 8:30 p.m. The arrest came several hours after the original Walmart call and after law enforcement had shifted from responding to a retail-theft complaint to looking for a driver accused of seriously endangering an officer during an escape.
Investigators also said the case involved a stolen handgun. WSB-TV reported that police said Riggins had a stolen handgun in a bag during the encounter. Public reports do not provide a complete inventory of evidence recovered or a detailed explanation of when investigators established that the weapon had been stolen. They also do not report that the gun was fired or displayed at the officer during the traffic stop. The firearm allegation nevertheless became part of a case that later included more serious charges than those initially reported after Riggins’ arrest.
Early coverage listed shoplifting, fleeing or attempting to elude and aggravated assault on a police officer. Later coverage from Atlanta News First said Riggins faced aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer, armed robbery and theft by shoplifting. Law&Crime additionally reported a charge involving possession of a firearm or knife during an attempt to commit felonies. The changing descriptions reflect information released at different points in the investigation. They should not be read as findings of guilt; the allegations would have to be established through the court process.
The incident also left several unanswered questions. Public reports do not fully describe the merchandise involved in the Walmart complaint, the evidence underlying the armed robbery allegation or the circumstances in which the stolen handgun was obtained. The sources reviewed also do not identify any later court hearing, plea or adjudication that would resolve the accusations. WSB-TV said on Aug. 18 that Riggins remained in jail at that time and that investigators believed additional charges or arrests were possible.
For Covington police, the officer’s return to duty closed the immediate medical concern but not the criminal investigation. Seals pointed to the episode when discussing the uncertainty officers face during traffic stops, saying there is no truly routine stop because circumstances can change quickly. In this case, an officer who began by following up on a shoplifting report was taken to a trauma hospital, while detectives spent the evening tracing a vehicle, reviewing surveillance and locating the person they said had been behind the wheel.
The public record remains clearest about the officer’s recovery and the sequence captured by his body camera. He survived the fall, was released from the hospital and later returned to work. Riggins was arrested the same evening and accused of multiple crimes, but the later legal status of those allegations was not established in the sources reviewed. Any additional charges, court dates or disposition would require a subsequent official or court update.
Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.