Newton Citizen

COVINGTON - Newton County Sheriff's Office deputies have been seeking Wayne Austin Carmack since Friday morning when he allegedly assaulted a deputy who was attempting to arrest him on outstanding warrants.

According to NCSO spokesman Lt. Mark Mitchell, Carmack, 44, whose last known address was on Anderson Circle off Ga. Highway 36 and also of Porterdale, was wanted on

misdemeanor charges of failure to pay child support and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

A tip was received at the NCSO that Carmack was in the Mansfield area, but when deputies approached him to arrest him about 11 a.m. at a business at the intersection of Ga. highways 11 and 213, he began fighting. He was last seen fleeing into a nearby wooded area on foot.

"When deputies got out, the first deputy who had contact got into an altercation with him," Mitchell said Friday. "Somehow during the altercation the deputy was injured. He was transported to Newton Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries."

Mitchell said the deputy suffered a badly bruised arm and other "superficial injuries."

Carmack has continued to elude law enforcement officers, despite a full-scale manhunt with DeKalb County Police Department's helicopter, K-9 Units and several area law enforcement agencies.

Mitchell said no one knows if Carmack is armed, but he will be considered "armed and dangerous" when he is approached by law enforcement officers and he said residents should not attempt to make contact with him.

"If anyone sees him, they should call 911. Do not approach him," Mitchell said.

He described Carmack as "scruffy" in appearance, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds with brown hair.

He now has felony charges pending against him of aggravated battery, obstruction of a law enforcement officer and giving a false name or information to a law enforcement officer.

According to the Georgia Department of Corrections Web site, Carmack was convicted in 1986 of armed robbery in Jackson County and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Barbara Knowles can be reached at barbara.knowles@newtoncitizen.com.