VALDOSTA, Georgia -- Lowndes County was in mourning Sunday for a deputy who died on the job in an automobile accident late Saturday.
"This is a tragedy," said Sheriff Ashley Paulk. "It's like with family; it's just something you'll never forget and never get over."
Flags were at half-staff around the county Sunday in remembrance of Michael "Chris" Butler, who died in a collision between his patrol cruiser and a semi-truck on Cat Creek Road.
Butler was responding to "a domestic call that turned violent," said SFC Tracy Tabb, commander of the Georgia State Patrol's Valdosta post.
The deputy was heading north on Cat Creek with lights and sirens going, Tabb said. At the intersection with Normal Hall Road, a truck on Norman Hall began a right turn and pulled into the path of the patrol car, he said.
The semi-truck driver, Robbie J. Register, 29, of Tifton pulled Butler out of his burning patrol car, Tabb said. The deputy died at South Georgia Medical Center, he said.
The GSP Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is investigating the wreck; no charges have been filed pending completion of a final report, Tabb said.
Butler started working with the sherif's office in an auxiliary position three and a half years ago, Paulk said, becoming a full-time road patrol officer a year and a half ago.
"He was a very good person," Paulk said.
The last time a Lowndes County sheriff's deputy died in the line of duty was April 17, 1986, when John Rowe Jr. was run over by a truck while he worked in the median on Interstate 75, the sheriff said.
"It's something we face every day," Paulk said. "Every day you don't know if you're going to come back home. ... You don't do it for the money but for the passion to serve and protect."
The sheriff said Butler is survived by his wife and two daughters. He was the son of Elizabeth Butler, the former lifestyles editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, and the late Cmdr. Bill Butler of the Valdosta Police Department.
Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.
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