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Hostage investigation could end this week

• A hostage-taker shot by a police officer Monday is still in critical condition, authorities say.

J.D. Sumner

TIFTON — The investigation into the shooting of a man by police after he took a 16-year-old girl hostage during an armed robbery attempt could end as soon as this week, GBI officials said.

Craig Plymel, 48, was shot in the head by Tifton police Officer Dorminey McCrae after Plymel tried to rob the Piggly Wiggly grocery store Monday night and took the young clerk hostage.

Plymel was in critical condition Wednesday in the intensive care unit at the Medical Center of Central Georgia, where he remains under guard, Lt. Porter Jackson of the Tifton Police Department said.

A spokesperson for the hospital said that Plymel didn’t show in their system as being at the hospital, but Jackson said that hospital officials at MCCG don’t release information about prisoners to the media.

Mike Lewis, the head agent of the GBI’s Sylvester office, said that the use-of-force investigation — standard after police shoot someone — could wrap up as soon as this week.

“We’re still very much working that part of the investigation, but we hope to have it finished soon,” Lewis said.

Until that investigation is complete, McCrae has been placed on administrative leave, Tifton Police Chief Jim Smith said Tuesday.

Preliminary reports say that McCrae shot Plymel once in the head with his .40-caliber service pistol. No one else, including the hostage, was injured.

Jackson said that if Plymel survives, he’ll likely face charges including aggravated assault, armed robbery and kidnapping.

In 1985, Plymel was convicted in Florida of four different armed robberies and sentenced to serve 25 years in prison, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

He was released in 2001 and moved to Georgia, court records show.

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